Blue Eyes Blind
by electrickpanda
Summary: Hershel saw the way Daryl Dixon was staring at his youngest and he saw she was staring right back and at that moment he knew Beth's life would never be the same. "Looks like Little Red found the Big Bad Wolf". Yes, it's a Walking Dead AU Bethyl Werewolf fic. Deal.
1. Night of the Hunter

*Peeks out*  
Hi!  
After more than a decade reading fan fiction of all genres and varying degrees of smuttiness I have finally broken and am now posting something for the world to read.  
(Blame jaimek45. She's the one who made me all excited and confident. Go read her stuff by the way. It'll fill you with Bethyl joy)  
I'm aware vegetasbubbles also has a Bethyl werewolf story and I'm following hers but come on, we can all look at Daryl and see an animal. A sexy, adorable animal.  
So expect snark and smut. This isn't going to get dark and it's really just an excuse to have Beth call Daryl a grumpy puppy.  
Be gentle kind reviewers. I am but a humble woman kneeling at the alter of The Walking Dead.

* * *

Daryl Dixon had a vast amount of experience carrying his unconscious brother around.  
This time was special though because Merle wasn't drunk, stoned, or dealing with the results of a fight caused by his mouth overloading his ass.  
No, Merle had managed to get his forearm caught in an old trap hidden deep in the woods and after a particularly creative string of curses had gone white as a sheet and dropped.  
(For all the times Merle had called Daryl a pussy Daryl considered this karma and his brotherly duty was to remind his big brother every chance he could.)  
Daryl wasn't sure if he should leave the trap or try and pry it open.  
The teeth of the trap were horribly rusted but what if the pressure was the only thing keeping Merle from bleeding out?  
Deciding to err on the side of caution Daryl half-dragged, half-carried his only family to his beat up Ford and buckled him in all the while trying not to jostle the steel clamped into his arm.  
There was only one place someone like Merle, someone like Daryl could go in this situation.  
Hershel Greene.

Hershel was well acquainted with the Dixons. In his wild days, before he got sober and became the husband and father he should have been, he could often be found drinking and brooding with Will Dixon. Even after he left that life behind he was still connected to the Dixons. He tried so hard to help Will, help him find his way but Will only sunk deeper into the bottle and managed to drag his wife and boys down with him. Hershel couldn't count the number of times Will's dead eyed wife Camille came to see him about broken ribs or a fractured jaw sometimes accompanied by a belligerent adolescent who wore his bruises proudly and a stoic little boy whose blue eyes saw more than most. It had been over a decade since Hershel had seen those eyes up close which explained the blatant look of shock on his face as he answered his door.

"Daryl!?….Wha-"  
"Merle's hurt", Daryl managed to rasp out. "Went runnin' and got caught in an old trap. I didn't…I don't"  
Hershel cut the youngest Dixon off with a firm nod.  
"Well, get him inside and we'll do what we can do."  
Hershel and Daryl were pleased to find Merle conscious and almost lucid; they were less pleased that he still managed to be an insufferable bastard.  
"Aww Darylina, 'M touched you care so much but stop lookin' like such a bitch" Merle slurred, "Almost shamed of ya".  
Heaving his brother onto an exam table in what used to be a guest bedroom Daryl took a deep breath to calm himself. You'd think dealing with Merle all his life would have made him used to the barbs and insults that regularly came out of his mouth but perfect aim was a Dixon trait and Merle always knew what rankled Daryl the most.  
As Hershel bustled into the room, arms full of medical supplies Daryl's body stilled and his muscles locked.  
"The fuck…" he muttered.  
Beneath the typical smells of a well-loved home, the farm, and the sterile smell of the exam room Daryl smelled something that made the thing inside of him twist and ache and _**need**_.  
"Daryl. **Daryl**!"  
Snapping out of his reverie Daryl met Hershel's concerned gaze.  
"Yes sir?"  
Pointing to the hinges of the steel attacked to Merle's arm the old man explained that the rust kept the trap from closing fully and mangling his brother's forearm beyond any hope of recovery.  
"Now I've already given him some morphine to help with the pain but," Hershel smiled wryly, "don't expect this to go smoothly. First things first we need to get the trap itself off".

* * *

Beth Greene considered herself an understanding person but whoever was downstairs cursing and hollering was getting on her last nerve.  
Throwing the pillow she had been using to block out the ruckus interrupting her sleep, Beth sat up with a huff and decided that going downstairs to help would be the best way to speed up the patient's treatment and get them on their way. Besides, if she wanted to follow in her father's footsteps she'd need experience with situations like this.  
Throwing off the covers the young woman immediately shivered and goose bumps spread across her pale skin. Slipping on her brother Shawn's old UGA sweatshirt Beth pulled the hood up. For some reason she was always miserable when her ears were cold. Closing her door and stepping lightly down the stairs Beth heard the familiar sound of her father's competent voice trying his best to calm the angry man who had woken her. Towards the bottom of the stairs Beth realized there was a third voice, low and rumbly making her think of thunder in the distance for a moment. The petite blonde shook her head at her own ridiculousness and stopped in front of the makeshift exam room. As she opened her mouth to offer her father help Beth locked eyes with the dark man at Hershel's side. Her breath caught at the wild look written so plainly on his face and if she hadn't been so mesmerized she would have turned and run.

* * *

Daryl often wondered if Merle was worth it.  
He loved him and blood was blood but getting punched in the gut while his brother was getting stitched up and yelling like a madman made Daryl wish, not for the first time, that he'd been an only child.  
It didn't help that he knew Merle couldn't stay out of trouble to save his life.  
In his defense, Merle only landed the punch because Daryl was still so damn distracted by that smell he kept catching. That beautiful, amazing, fucking perfect scent he just wanted to curl up in and keep for himself.  
"Son, you're going to need to hold him down so I can finish stitching him properly. I'll give him one more shot to help him deal with it"  
Looking directly at Merle Hershel quirked an eyebrow and said, "If you don't stop thrashing about you'll pull your stitches and I'll have to do them all over again".  
Clenching his jaw and visibly resisting the urge to spew vitriol at the old man Merle managed to settle down.  
Hershel Greene was one of the few men Daryl respected and at that moment he liked him better than any man he knew. Seeing his brother cowed down was a rare event and for it to be done by a 70 year old human just made it even better.  
As the extra morphine began to work it's magic Daryl watched Merle relax and he didn't even react when the final stitches were made or when Hershel gave him a tetanus shot.  
The shot wasn't really necessary given their particular physiology but when Daryl mentioned it Hershel simply shrugged.  
"Better safe than sorry."  
Grabbing a nearby blanket Daryl covered his brother and went to help Hershel clean up when he heard the stairs creak and a light tread coming close.  
As he turned to look his back snapped taut and his eyes went impossibly wide.  
The scent, **that scent**, was standing in front of him and he'd never seen anything so glorious in his life.  
She was small, fine-boned, and almost drowning in the red sweatshirt she was wearing. Creamy pale skin and waves of golden hair peaking out from the hood she'd pulled up. Her eyes were so blue and he couldn't breathe her in deep enough.  
She smelled like cotton fields and sunshine and the orchards at the beginning of peach season.  
She smelled like softness, comfort, like home.  
It took every ounce of Daryl's willpower to keep still, to keep from striding over so he could bury his nose in her neck and imprint everything she was into his skin.  
His hands twitched and his jaw ached and everything inside him howled out one word.  
_**"MINE"**_

Hershel saw the way Daryl Dixon was staring at his youngest and he saw she was staring right back and at that moment he knew Beth's life would never be the same.  
A quiet chuckle interrupted his thoughts and he saw Merle smirking at him.  
Casting heavy lidded eyes towards the two Merle managed to slur out,  
"Looks like Little Red found the Big Bad Wolf".


	2. Shooting Arrows at the Sky

**I would like to dedicate this chapter to the four things that helped me off my ass to get this down. **  
**Apple moonshine, Bastille, Lady Gaga, and jaimek45.**  
**Without you this would still be trapped in my mind along with all the other shadows and monsters.**

**A big thank you goes to: MigratingCoconuts06, , , sparrow149. InuFan24-7, AliKattz, ItsNotEZ, lithriel23, and my three wonderful guests.**  
**I may not know your name but I do know you're sexy. **

* * *

_That boy is a monster…_

Two figures stood still; eyes locked through a doorway as if nothing in the world existed beyond each other. The stark contrast between the two was mesmerizing. A tall dark man almost bristling with leashed power and a small young woman, pale and golden and made to love.

Beth was starting to worry that she was having a stroke because her brain was definitely not working correctly. The only thing that was registering in her mind was a strange sense of belonging and a faint voice telling her to run from the predator in front of her.

The girl, **his **girl was unaware that she was in a world of trouble. The slightest tremble shook her svelte frame and his mouth quirked at the sudden thought of wolves and rabbits.

Daryl was so content to memorize the planes and curves of her face (he should really learn her name soon) that he was shocked when he heard Hershel's polite cough.

Her father's face was no-nonsense, "Beth, sweetie, I'm already done down here. Go back upstairs. Mr. Dixon and I need to talk things over for a bit.".

Beth rarely defied her father but she was so curious and she desperately wanted to know more about the handsome scruffy man who's eyes never left her. While trying to think of a way to sway her dad to let her stay Beth grew livid when the stranger looked her up and down, smirked, and rumbled, "G'on now girl. Need to talk to your daddy.".

Daryl thought she was beautiful when she froze in front of him, entranced and disheveled but the girl….Beth was fucking magnificent in her anger. Her narrowed blue eyes sparkled and her cheeks flushed in such a way he couldn't not think of what it'd be like to cause that beautiful rosy color all over. The smell of her fury was intoxicating and it only grew headier as he grinned at her. Beth let out a growl that frankly impressed Daryl and turned away in a huff to stomp upstairs muttering about being treated like a child. Watching as she went up the stairs Daryl smirked inwardly and thought, "No one with hips like that could ever be a child.".

The sound of Beth's door slamming filled Daryl with horror because now he realized he was alone with Hershel. Alone with his mate's father and he was finally going to experience the terror of "the talk". Hershel knew it too. The corner of his mouth lifted and his eyes were filled with a compelling mix of amusement, resignation, and ferocity. He may not be able to stop this now that it had started but he'd be damned if he stood by and let his little girl go to a man he wasn't absolutely sure would love her like she should be. Hershel clapped Daryl on the shoulder and led him to the kitchen,

"Now your brother will be out for the rest of the night and I do believe we have some things to discuss, don't we son?"

Daryl Dixon was a fighter, a hunter, a predator at the top of the food chain and all he could manage was a jerky nod as his throat closed up and refused to work for him. He respected Hershel and liked him more than 98% of all the people he'd ever met and how could he look him in the eye and tell him that his genetics had told him that Hershel's baby girl was his mate and he wanted nothing more than to rub his scent **all **over her skin and keep her close so he'd never have to feel so empty and alone again? Were there even words to tell her father all that Beth represented to him?

Daryl started as Hershel slid a plate of leftovers in front of him and the old man eased himself onto one of the kitchen island's stools. "Annette still cooks as though we still had a full house." Hershel looked beyond weary as he stretched his aching hands in front of him. "I'm not as young as I used to be" he groaned. Moments passed and as the silence grew thicker Daryl took the opportunity to stuff himself with Mrs. Greene's home cooking. It wasn't often he got the chance to eat food that didn't come from the dollar menu or was processed to the point of being radioactive. With a sigh Hershel turned and caught Daryl's eye. "Do you know why I'm one of the few humans the Mac Tire, the Shifters trust?"

Daryl swallowed the obnoxiously large mouthful of greens and shook his head. This wasn't really how he thought these talks were supposed to go but he wouldn't put it past Hershel to try and lull him into a false sense of security before neutering him.

"In Georgia, in the 1960s wolves were….well the technical term is extirpated but that's just a fancy way to say they were hunted to extinction within the state. Farmers and hunters around here were tired of losing their hogs and wild game so they sent out groups to slaughter as many as they could. Some even offered money for wolf pelts as incentive." Hershel laughed bitterly, "My father even led some of these hunts. There I was, a 23 year old veterinary student and my father was helping to slaughter a species and I couldn't stand it."

Daryl's eyes were wide and he could almost taste the old man's regret and pain.

There was steel in Hershel's voice when he continued. "So I found out when those men were going to have their hunts and I'd do my best to block the footpaths. And when that didn't work I'd follow behind the hunters and bring the wolves that still had life left in them back to an old outbuilding we used for storage." Smiling gently, Hershel's eyes were unfocused and nostalgic. "You don't know what it's like to leave a sleeping wolf and come back to find a man. That was the beginning. I know just how much a Shifter values loyalty. My farm is protected and kept safe from predators and poachers and all I have to do is what I would do anyway."

Daryl's back stiffened when Hershel's gaze turned hard.

"So you understand I am fully aware of what my daughter is to you and what will happen now." uttered Hershel as his eyes turned positively glacial.

To look at him you would never think that badass Daryl Dixon, he of the leather and motor oil, was panicking. He couldn't be kept from Beth. He **needed** her but if he fought with Hershel Beth might get angry and this entire situation was making his head hurt and his muscles twitch with the need to run until he was exhausted.

Looking at Daryl's clenched fists and white knuckles Hershel shook his head and smiled almost mockingly.

"But I won't keep her from you or vice versa."

The young man looked up through shaggy bangs and held his breath as he waited for the other shoe to drop.

Sliding off his stool Hershel swiped Daryl's empty plate and took it to the sink. As he rinsed it off he looked over his shoulder. "She's my daughter, my youngest and I'd be a poor excuse of a father if I didn't lay down some ground rules. She's just 19 and you will treat her with all the respect and care she deserves or I will make sure you become acquainted with the business end of my old Remington."

Daryl was truly in fight or flight mode as he tracked Hershel's movements. The old gentlemen dried his hands and went to stand in front of him.

"I'm giving you a chance but that's all I can do. I can't make her love you. Honestly, no one can make Beth do anything" Hershel chuckled. He grasped Daryl by the shoulder and led him to the bottom of the stairs.

"Now, I am giving you five minutes to go upstairs, introduce yourself, and apologize for being rude."

Daryl went to argue but Hershel shook his head.

"This is your chance. I'll even give you a piece of advice that has gotten me through two marriages," Hershel was grinning now at the poorly concealed interest in his daughter's prospective mate's face.

"You are a man and you are always wrong and the sooner you can accept that the sooner you can have a happy life."

Chewing viciously on his thumbnail Daryl squared his shoulders and walked up the stairs, pausing mid-step he looked back, "Thank you" he mumbled awkwardly.

Hershel merely nodded and said, "Five minutes, door **open** or I'll put you in an E-Collar."

* * *

He didn't need any help to find Beth's room. Daryl simply followed that mouthwatering scent until he stood in front of a nondescript white door. He'd never gone to church and he cursed the fact that he didn't know any prayers because honestly Daryl could use some help. He was gruff and he knew getting him to have a conversation was like pulling teeth. He couldn't, **wouldn't** screw this up though.

Beth was braiding her messy hair when someone knocked softly on her bedroom door. Wrinkling her brow she grumbled out, "Come in" around the hair tie in her mouth. The door gently swung open. A gasp lodged in her throat as she locked onto her face. Beth couldn't name all the emotions that` flickered over the strange man's face and her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest.

"He….hello?"

As Daryl opened her door Beth's scent hit him like a sledgehammer. It was so pure, so concentrated that he couldn't think beyond laying down at her feet for the rest of his days so he could breathe her in until his lungs burst. Her stuttered, hesitant greeting brought him back to himself. He smiled at her politely as he almost crushed the doorknob in his anxiety.

"Hello Beth"

* * *

Dun **Dun D****UNNNNNNNNNN!**


	3. King and Lionheart

So...I really have only one excuse for this being so horrifically late.  
I've been trying for my disability for over a year and finally got it three weeks ago so my days have been full of doctor's appointments and paying bills I've owed for years.  
I'm more excited about insurance weirdly enough.  
Once more I dedicate this to everyone who's favorite and followed.  
You are sexy and I am honored to share sexy fantasies of Daryl with you.  
And to Jaimek45 for being the one person I don't mind having dibs on Reedus.  
She'll have his ZA babies.

* * *

As Daryl opened her door Beth's scent hit him like a sledgehammer. It was so pure, so concentrated that he couldn't think beyond laying down at her feet for the rest of his days so he could breathe her in until his lungs burst. Her stuttered, hesitant greeting brought him back to himself. He smiled at her politely as he almost crushed the doorknob in his anxiety.

"Hello Beth"

Beth's room was somewhat surprising to him. While he didn't know much about petite 19 year old farm girls he did expect something….frillier. Daryl wasn't upset though. He might not have been the best conversationalist but he could read people fairly easily and what Beth's room spoke about her was heartening. It was clean and orderly without being anal. Music must have been one of her great loves. There were hundreds of cds and albums in the corner next to a keyboard and a weathered guitar. The whole room just left him with a sense of warmth and comfort….especially the bed. Daryl refused to let himself think too long on how soft her sheets would feel on his skin or what it would be like to sleep with his face buried in her pillow.

This night (or was it morning now?) was really trying Beth's nerves. She was woken up by a loud angry ass with a mouth like a sailor, dismissed like a child and now the extremely sexy man who managed to somehow anger her while making her heart beat too fast was standing in her doorway…staring at her things like they were something new and foreign.

"Um are you ok?" Seriously, he was pretty but the way he zoned out made her slightly worried. She just didn't have it in her to deal with anymore drama before she got at least some sleep. Stupid farms and their stupid early mornings.

"I uh…..",

'Shit!' Daryl inwardly screamed. He wasn't exactly suave but he'd never turned into some blushing, stuttering schoolboy before. 'Get your shit together and speak!"

Squaring his shoulders he tried again.

"Sorry. Been a long night. Just….wanted to 'pologize for my brother, Merle. He's kind of an asshole and he's never really thought bout anyone but himself and sometimes me."

Beth was charmed. It might just be the beginnings of exhaustion or delirium or both but this big brawny man actually seemed bashful and damn that was adorable.

"It's ok. One of my old boyfriends from school was even louder when Daddy had to do stitches on his arm. He was crying and everything. Daddy almost had to take a break because he was shaking from holding in laughter!"

While Daryl felt an inexplicable sense of relief she had forgiven him he had to hold in a growl at the thought of her with boyfriends.

Plural.

They couldn't have treated her like she deserved but he took comfort in the fact that everything was past tense.

And it just wouldn't do to start beating up every boy she'd ever held hands with.

Men didn't do that.

Probably.

"Well still…Can…can I make it up to you?"

At her big, rounded eyes and the smell of her shock Daryl braced himself for rejection.

He didn't get to have nice things, he didn't get the girl. He was a Dixon and everyone knew-

"And how would you do that Mr…I didn't even ask your name! I'm so sorry. I'm tired and babbling and now I've been rude!"

Almost giddy with relief that he hadn't been shot down Daryl quickly blurted out his name and for some godawful reason walked closer to her and stuck out his hand. He was really batting a thousand tonight.

He was just being polite.

He did not just want to know how her skin felt.

That would just be creepy.

A little shocked at his gesture Beth gently placed her hand in his. He shook her hand like she was some delicate thing and his big calloused hand made her feel like she was.

"Nice to meet ya Beth."

Oh hell. He was creepy. He had to hold in an audible whine of pleasure at the feel of her soft, small hand. She was so damn pretty and small and smelled so good and he wasn't ever going to be worthy but he couldn't let her go.

Literally.

Flushing a little he realized he'd been holding her hand for too long but neither of them moved to let go.

"So about me making it up to you…how about breakfast?"

Daryl Dixon was a lot of things but he did not fidget if he was any less of a man people would say he was graceful but God help him he could barely stand still waiting for her answer.

"You know Daddy and Mama are going to stuff you silly in about 3 hours. Mama can't stop herself from trying to feed everyone who walks in. You'll probably be sent home with doggy bags but….I would never turn down the offer of copious amounts of Chinese food for lunch."

Peaking shyly up at him through her lashes she blamed her forwardness on the 97 minutes of sleep she'd gotten.

This was a grown man and even though he'd asked first she'd kind of commandeered the whole situation.

Daryl knew there was a silly grin on his face and before he could help himself he stooped and laid an impulsive kiss on her cheek.

"I'd like to eat some Chinese food with you Miss Beth. I'll take Merle home after breakfast and get him situated and then come back and pick you up."

Flushing almost as red as the sweatshirt she wore Beth nodded silently and watched as he straightened up. The smile on his face made her feel fluttery and she vaguely required something from Bambi.

'What was it?' She thought distractedly. 'Flutterpated? I'm flutterpated!'

She squeezed his hand once more and reluctantly let go.

"Well…I've got to get some sleep but I'll see you in the morning, right?"

Beth was taken aback at how much she actually wanted to see him. They'd had one conversation and she was already nursing the beginnings of a crush but not a crush. Crushes were all giggles and secretive notes back and forth. This was different somehow.

She just didn't know how exactly.

Forcing himself to turn away from her Daryl absently raked a hand through his hair.

"I'll see you at breakfast Princess, I'll be here."

This had gone so well he was almost afraid. Things like this didn't happen to Daryl Dixon but he was going to grab what he could and hold on with everything he had.

She could make him happy and he could love her like no other.

Shutting her door gently behind him he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

He hadn't screwed up.

* * *

Beth's dreams were strange. There was a moon like she'd never seen, even in the country. Pale and huge it loomed over her but she wasn't afraid. She felt safe and happy.

Daryl's didn't dream. His dream was upstairs.

* * *

Yawning as she brushed her hair Beth thought about the night before. She hadn't gotten much sleep but she was strangely well rested and then there was Daryl, just downstairs. She knew he had to be quite a bit older but what did that matter. She'd always been mature which is why all her previous relationship (all three of them) had never really been serious. Beth was thinking of school and building a career and they were thinking of sex and partying.

Slipping into a serviceable tank top and some tight jeans (she wasn't a saint and she was rather proud of her ass) Beth shoved her feet in her boots and walked downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast with a light heart and a sense of anticipation.

Daryl was barely resisting the urge to muzzle his brother. The Greene's were a close family and even with guests they didn't eat breakfast until everyone was gathered at the table.

Beth being a little late this morning, which was understandable, was keeping Merle from the piles of amazing smelling food and he was rather…vocal about his opinion on the matter.

"'M healing. Need ta eat ta heal. Isn't that right Doc?" he grumbled loudly.

Hershel just ignored him and continued to read his paper as Annette pattered around the kitchen keeping everything warm.

Hearing the click of a door upstairs and the subsequent creak of the stairs themselves Daryl sat up a little straighter.

Before Merle could badger him about being so damn eager Beth breathlessly took her seat.

"I'm so so sorry everyone. I was sleeping so well and...well I'm here now. Let's eat!"

Seeing the look her father gave her Beth corrected herself.

"I mean good morning everyone."

Manners must never be forgotten. Especially in company.

As her mother served up a variety of breakfast food Beth was uncomfortably aware that she was the center of everyone's attention. Her father and Daryl were being somewhat sly about it but Daryl's brother was not.

"So, Little Red" he smirked. "Why don't you tell ol' Merle what you think 'bout baby brother here."

It seemed everyone was interested in the answer and it felt faintly like she was facing a firing squad.

Buying herself some time by nibbling on a strip of bacon Beth collected herself and, staring Merle dead in the eyes, she found her courage.

"Daryl is really sweet and he doesn't seem like he'd scream like a girl all night and keep people up, you know?" Her smile was saccharine sweet and after a second it transformed into an almost gleeful grin at the dumbfounded look on Merle's face.

"Little girl's got some claws Darylina. Best watch yourself."

Knowing this was, in Merle's own way, an endorsement Daryl was strangely pleased that his brother was going to try and be welcoming to Beth.

She was his and that made her pack.

You don't turn your back on family.

Hershel, sipping his coffee, looked to his youngest. She was glowing and glancing every now and then at the younger Dixon boy.

'Well, not so much a boy, ' he thought wryly.

"So Bethy, what are your plans for today?"

Flushing a bit Beth looked at Daryl and said plainly, "Daryl's going to take me to lunch to make up for last night."

"Is that right?" Hershel felt a little bad watching Daryl almost visibly start to sweat but he'd have to get used to a little good natured ribbing.

Shoveling eggs into his mouth all Daryl could do was nod. He knew he had what amounted to Hershel's blessing but he was still wary of pressing his luck. He couldn't screw up his one given chance.

* * *

Next up, Chinese food and grumbly puppy Daryl!


	4. Elastic Heart

**Soo...I have no excuse for how late this is.  
I suck.  
Naked, sweaty Daryl hugs for everyone!  
Also, a huge thank you to my amazing friend and beta Jaime.  
Today is her birthday and I wish her all the best.  
I'm a bit leery of posting this because certain parts are new territory for me.  
Constructive criticism is enjoyed and cuddled**

* * *

Daryl drove Merle home half dazed. In the course of one night his life had changed. He found his other half, his light in the darkness.

Turning onto a dirt road Daryl almost started when Merle began to speak in a tone he wasn't used to; he was serious and Daryl instinctively listened to his older brother.

"Now you know baby brother that girl ain't like the ones we're used to. She's cute and soft. You gotta show her you're man enough to care for her. Go hunting and bring her back something nice."

Was Merle serious?

He wanted him to bring Beth a dead animal?

Sometimes Merle didn't even try to hide the fact that he was an animal in a man's skin. It was why he made so many people uncomfortable. He walked around like a predator and even humans who had little to no instincts knew better than to turn their backs to him.

Sighing inwardly Daryl did his best to look like he was listening intently while he drove home, mind fixated on the girl he was going to eat lunch with.

"Oh Shit!"

Daryl hadn't thought it out fully beforehand but now he was faced with the knowledge that he had a date and he didn't even remember how to date. He was never a ladies man and the women who hung around Merle weren't the type you had long lasting relationships with.

Smirking like he knew what was running through his brother's mind Merle shook his head.

"Now I know ya ain't much with women. God knows I've tried to teach ya but you never listen to me. Now you got to listen to your big brother. You can't mess this up."

Coming to a stop in front of their secluded house Daryl gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles went white. He was going to have ask Merle for advice and that didn't sit well with him.

"So what to I have to do to keep her?" he ground out.

Merle almost preened in triumph. He knew Daryl hated to ask for anything. He was as independent as all Dixons were.

"You got to treat her well. Opens doors and all that sissy shit. She looks like the type that likes flowers and girly stuff. Oh and pay for everything. You got to show you can provide."

Nodding his head Daryl thought it didn't sound too hard but actions spoke more than words. He'd try his best.

Following Merle inside Daryl made a beeline to the bathroom. He'd need to shower the grit and sweat of the last day off and try and look presentable.

As he hopped in the shower Daryl thought more about what Merle said. Beth was soft...and sweet. She smelled like everything he'd ever wanted and he was terrified she wouldn't ever want him the same way.

As he washed his thoughts took a more carnal turn. He'd always loved a woman's hips, especially that shivery spot in the hollow of the hipbone. Beth's hips were perfect for his hands.

Abandoning his washcloth Daryl loosely gripped the base of his cock and with sure strokes brought himself to full hardness.

As he stifled a groan he thought of Beth on her hands and knees. He'd cover her with his body and all they'd know in that moment was each other. He'd taste her sweat and make it so good for her. Daryl thumbed the head of his cock and his hips thrust almost frantically.

He was already so close from the remembered smell of her skin and the faint taste left on his lips from his chaste kiss to her smooth cheek.

When he came he shoved his hand between his teeth to stifle his groan and the taste of his own blood mixed with the power of his orgasm left him on his knees.

Just the thought of her was enough to bring him to his knees. God help him.

Leaving the shower on shaky legs Daryl wrapped a towel around his waist and tried to think of what he could wear. Most of his clothes were either covered in stains, sleeveless, or ripped. He normally didn't care what he looked like as long as he was covered but he needed to make a good impression this time.

Merle had thankfully crashed out on the couch so Daryl didn't have to worry about his brother giving him shit about being so damn weird about his clothes.

Settling on a pair of faded jeans with only one small hole in the knee and a plain black shirt he wondered if he should do anything about his hair and then scowled at himself. There wasn't enough time to tackle the shaggy mess that was on top of his head.

As he grabbed his keys and wallet Daryl thought of what Merle said. Girls like flowers, right?

* * *

Beth was a lot more nervous than she thought she'd be. She'd only met this man last night and she swore there was just something about him that made her need to know him. She'd changed shirts three times before settling on a green button-down over a white tank. She was tired of being cute; she wanted to be sexy. She wanted Daryl to think she was sexy.

Beth was too keyed up to do anything but pace and check herself in the mirror a dozen times. What if he couldn't come? What if he was only doing this to be polite?

As her thoughts spiraled further and further out of control Beth heard the distant sound of a truck on the dirt road to the farmhouse. He had come! Now all she had to do was be a mature, sexy young woman.

Beth was screwed.

* * *

"I'm screwed" Daryl thought viciously. Hershel was waiting at the door for him. He knew he already had the old man's permission but he had never had a good experience with fathers before so he was still leery. Straightening his shoulders he got out of the truck carrying the gift he had put together from the field near his house.

"Mr. Greene, is uh Beth ready?"

Hershel smiled at Daryl and it only seemed a little mocking. He was a grown man and stuttering at the thought of taking a pretty girl out to eat.

Beth refused to leave her father and her maybe almost date alone together. Knowing Hershel's sense of humor he'd probably try to break out the baby books.

As she bounded down the stairs she caught herself at the sight of a small bouquet in Daryl's hands. His large hands looked so incongruous in comparison with the delicate wildflowers he was nervously clutching.

"Are those for me?" Beth asked with a delighted smile.

"Well they ain't for your dad." Daryl mumbled as he thrust the flowers in her waiting hands.

"They're beautiful.

Just wait right here for a second. I'm gonna put them in some water and then we can go. She looked at her father with a mock glare, "And no embarrassing stories Daddy!"

Daryl shuffled awkwardly waiting for Beth to come back. Apparently the flowers had gone over well so he guessed he'd have to buy Merle some Jack in appreciation. Damn it.

Hershel took pity on Daryl and clapped him on the back while loudly talking about the time Beth had fallen face first into a pile of manure.

"Ok then. Bye Daddy!" Beth yelled as she grabbed Daryl and almost ran out of the house.

Remembering Merle's prompts Daryl opened the passenger door for Beth and tried to steel himself for 15 minutes in an enclosed space with the most perfect smelling woman he'd ever imagined.

"Um..." Beth was still blushing. She couldn't believe out of all the stories her father could tell he told that one. Maggie still didn't let her forget that it took 3 hours of scrubbing to smell normal.

"M'brother Merle told me Pixie Sticks could get you high so I snorted some and sneezed blue for half an hour." Daryl said, trying to make Beth feel better.

The rest of the car ride went by quickly as both recounted their most horrifyingly embarrassing stories.

* * *

Flowers. Check.

Open doors. Check.

Now onto managing to pay without seeming like a Neanderthal. Merle had some good advice but sometimes it seemed like he was living in the 50s or something.

"Y'know this is my treat, right?" he said hopefully.

Smirking playfully Beth nudged him with her shoulder as they looked over the menu. For such a small town they had a really great Chinese place.

"Well you are they one responsible for me getting almost no sleep so yeah, you're paying."

Daryl wasn't really an adventurous eater but he let Beth order for him and his eyes grew almost comically wide as he realized the amount of food she picked. Yeah, he could eat a great deal more than the average man but it seemed like she had an appetite to match his own. What the hell was Mushu Pork anyway. Wasn't that the dragon from Mulan or something?

As Daryl watched Beth he noticed one of the waiters was too. He wasn't even being subtle about it and Daryl was standing right next to her.

This may have been their first sorta date but it was his and no one took anything that was **his**. Daryl stepped forward, wrapped an arm around Beth's waist and buried his nose in her hair inhaling her scent and trying to calm himself.

"Um...did you just sniff me?" she squeaked. Adorably so in his opinion.

Hiding his face further in her golden hair Daryl growled out, "Yes, y'smell damn good and everyone knows it and you're here with me."

Beth giggled at the ticklish sensation of his stubble rubbing against her cheek .

"You're just lucky I like the he-man vibe."

They stayed wrapped up in each other until their order was ready.

Daryl purposely didn't tell Beth why he had asked for take-out. He had a plan and he wanted it to be a surprise.

He wanted to share something beautiful with her. A place he felt at peace.

Coming to a stop in front of a small trail Daryl got out and opened the door again for Beth and grabbed their food and an old soft blanket his grandmother had made.

"C'mon, it's just a little bit further."

Beth was intrigued. She had never been to this part of the county. It was mainly woods and hunting grounds. As Daryl held a branch back for her she started to hear the sound of rushing water.

She gasped, "We're having a picnic next to the Oconee River?"

"This is a spot not a lot of people come to. Merle n' I hunt and fish here."

They came to the beginnings of the bank of the river and Daryl unrolled the blanket and sat down, patting the space next to him.

"Your gonna have to tell me what the hell I'm eating. I don't usually get anything other than sweet and sour chicken." Beth gracefully sat down and decided to give Daryl a crash course on Chinese food. MooShu pork, steamed dumplings, pepper chicken; they'd try all of it especially those fried doughnuts crusted in sugar.

Snagging a dumpling with her chopsticks Beth caught Daryl's surprised expression.

"Do you not know how to use chopsticks" she grinned.

Daryl simply shook his head.

"Well good! I can teach you."

Beth took the other pair and grabbed Daryl's right hand. His hands were large and calloused in her own and without even knowing it she rubbed his palm with her thumb.

He was always entranced with the contrast between him. Beth was so small and soft and he...wasn't.

He only half listened to her explanation, too caught up in the feel of her skin against his and the smell of her happiness.

He, Daryl Dixon, was making her happy and he had never felt better.

Daryl was also making her laugh. His attempts to pick up a clump of rice ended with it scattered over his lap so with a slight smirk he abandoned his chopsticks and scooped up some rice with his fingers.

"Gross!" Beth laughed.

What followed was an orgy of eating. Daryl was going to get her to order everything the next time they went out and there would be a next time.

Shoving the empty cartons in the paper bag they came in Beth fell back on the blanket and curled on her side watching Daryl lick his fingers clean. There was something endlessly endearing about him. He was all at one a sexy man but with adorably boyish qualities.

"We're going to do this again, right" she asked quietly.

Quirking an eyebrow Daryl looked at her with a straight face, "Well if we come here all the time it'd get boring but I'd like to take you other placed. Hell, you could even take me places."

Beth simply smiled and nodded.

"Lay down with me" she said a moment later.

"Uh..."

Beth snorted a bit, "I'm not asking to get naked or anything but I'm warm, full, and sleepy and I like to cuddle."

This day just couldn't get any better.

Daryl shifted and laid down behind her, spooning her gently with his arms around her waist.

"Yeah, I could nap."

And so for the next hour both of then dozed in the sun, curled up around each other completely at peace with the world.


	5. Angel With a Shotgun

**Hi!  
Yes, I know I take entirely too long to update but writing is something I'm overly anal about but now that my roommate did something stupid and is now in jail I have all the time in the world to write so hopefully I'll be better.  
I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed.  
I think you're sexy and invite you to my Bethyl symposium I'm going to give...one day.  
A big thank you/shout out/hug to Jaimek45 for being the bestest person ever.  
Whenever the ZA happens I'm driving up to save Reedus and Lincoln and taking them to her family farm.  
I'll get to see both of them shirtless holding babies and my ovaries will catch fire. **

* * *

Daryl's skin itched.

He had spent so much time on two legs he was getting antsy and his muscles were coiled uncomfortably tight.

Merle never went more than a few days without a run in the woods but lately Daryl's mind had been on other things.

He knew the longer he and Beth were together the harder it would be to tell her what he was. He just didn't want her to see him as a monster. Daryl didn't think Beth had a mean bone in her body but sometimes she got a little vicious when people kept things from her. She had refused to talk to Maggie for a week when Maggie sprung her elopement on the family.

Beth was going to be busy studying this weekend so there'd be no better time. He could even do a run by and check on everything.

Daryl knew Rick checked the farm's perimeters at least once every week or so but the moon was full and high in the sky and his instincts were going a little haywire. He needed to know his mate was safe.

As he hiked the few miles to the little shack Merle and he hid their clothes in he was filled with nervous energy. He needed to run and run far.

Daryl couldn't sense anything in the area but a few smaller prey animals and as he shed his clothes he welcomed the feel of cool air on his skin.

The change came quickly and he welcomed the pain. This was his curse and his gift. His bones shifted and muscles stretched and contracted to form a new creature. Shaking his shaggy head and orienting himself on four legs Daryl lifted his head to the sky and howled out one long joyful note.

As a human his senses were heightened but as a wolf there were none better. He could see, smell, and hear everything. His thoughts were disjointed and all he could think of was Beth. In this form his mind was different, more primal. Miles of forest were nothing to him. He ran as fast as he could until he came across Rick's scent mark. They may not share blood but Rick was Daryl's second brother. When Merle did something stupid it was Rick who helped him out and it had been Daryl who stood as best man all those years ago when Rick married Lori. Rick even helped Daryl get his associate's in police science so he could get his job as game warden at Hard Labor Creek National Park.

Just because they were close didn't mean that Rick wasn't going to take the piss out of Daryl every chance he got for being mated to little Beth Greene. His mate had been caring for Rick's children for a little over five years and from what he understood Carl was head over heels for her. Daryl couldn't stop the growl that seemed to echo in the darkened woods. Carl was getting to the age where he'd have his first shift and while logically he knew he had nothing to fear from a 14 year old boy the animal part of him only saw a rival.

Running around the perimeter of Hershel's farm Daryl found nothing out of the ordinary. Squirrels, rabbits, a few deer, and those damn coyotes. There were so many in Georgia and they were even crossbreeding with domesticated dogs. Daryl hated those fuckers. No respect.

The sun was just peaking over the horizon and Daryl could smell the beginnings of breakfast. Cocking his head quizzically he noticed Beth walking outside, a basket on her arm to hold the eggs she was going to gather. Merle's list suddenly seemed to pop in his mind and to his lupine brain nothing seemed more appropriate than bringing his mate food. Dashing back into the tree line he quickly brought down a fat rabbit. He knew he had to approach her without scaring her. No need to bring her family outside. Trotting closer to his mate Daryl waited patiently for her to turn around.

* * *

When Beth went to begin her morning chores she didn't expect to be facing a giant freaking wolf. Seriously, was this Game of Thrones or something? It was large and dark gray with the strangest blue eyes. Those eyes gave her pause. They seemed so intelligent and…familiar. It had a rabbit hanging in its mouth and Beth could have sworn it was laughing at her. Clutching her basket to her chest she watched as her wolf (though when he became hers she didn't know) dropped the lifeless little Thumper on the ground and nosed it towards her. Frozen, Beth waited and watched as the wolf seemed to grow impatient and picked the rabbit back up and dropped it directly at her feet. This was just too weird. As she slowly bent down to grab her gift she never took her eyes from the beast in front of her. Beth slowly straightened and with a small yip the wolf bounded back into the forest.

Half-dazed Beth forgot the eggs and walked back into the house.

"Daddy…." she started, "A giant wolf just gave me a rabbit and ran away."

Hershel set down his paper and looked at the bloodied animal in his youngest daughters hands.

"Well, seems like you have an admirer."

Beth was shocked at how blasé' her father was being. Maybe he wasn't fully awake yet?

Her mother paused in flipping pancakes and looked with wide eyes at Beth and Hershel.

"I think that it the sweetest thing I've ever heard but Beth, sweetheart, you should probably out the rabbit down. It's dripping all over the floor."

Ok, it was official. Her parents had lost their minds. A giant wolf had given her a rabbit and it was "sweet".

"Screw it, "she thought. "I'm going back to bed."

As Beth climbed the stairs Hershel and Annette shared a secret smile.

"That boy needs to tell her soon. She'd think it was cute if she knew" Annette sighed.

Hershel simply nodded. Maybe he'd tell Beth to ask Daryl about local wolves. He knew more than anyone else and maybe it'd light a fire under his ass to get him to tell. It wasn't like Beth would think any different of him.

* * *

Daryl's human mind was embarrassed and a little wary. He'd shown himself to Beth and brought her a damn dead animal just like Merle had said. Well, at least she hadn't screamed. God knew Hershel and Annette would never let him live it down if they knew. Slipping his boots on he leisurely walked the few miles back to his house and was surprised to see Rick's SUV parked outside. Rick wasn't the biggest fan of Merle but both men tolerated each other because they both knew they cared for Daryl but to see both of them laughing over coffee on his couch was something he thought he'd never see.

"Hey there baby brother. Had a good run? Was just tellin' Officer Friendly here about you and lil Greene."

Oh God. He'd managed to give Rick the slip each time he wanted to talk about Beth but now he was cornered and by the shit eating grins on both men's face he knew he was going to go down hard.

"So….Daryl" Rick started, "You and Beth, huh? Didn't know you were into sweet little girls. Poor Carl is going to be heartbroken you've stolen his girl from him."

Daryl couldn't help the snarl that ripped from his throat.

"She was never his! She was always mine even if I didn't know. You keep your **boy** away from her and we won't have problems."

Merle and Rick both shared a look of barely contained amusement.

"Yep, you've got it bad. I did the same thing with Lori remember? Nearly attacked her gay friend for hugging her."

Sighing Daryl plopped down on a chair and ran his hands through his hair. Rick had been through this before when he found Lori and he'd laughed at the time but now that the shoe was on the other foot….well he was a Dixon and they weren't known for social niceties so Rick should be used to not getting apologies.

Rick's grin dimmed a little.

"I know Hershel probably already gave you a talk but you know if you screw up you've got me to deal with too. I've known Beth since she was a little girl and she's practically a member of the family. I don't know what Lori and I would have done without her when Judi was a baby."

Daryl went to reply but was cut off by his phone. Who would be texting him at 8 in the morning?

_Hey Daryl, do you know anything about wolves. Something weird happened this morning – Beth_

Rick and Merle were stunned when Daryl paled.

"Has something happened at the park?"

Daryl simply handed Rick his phone and watched as Merle and Rick looked at each other and said together, "Hershel".

"Well now Darylena, now you know how her daddy feels. Ya gotta tell her sometime soon or you'll never get her naked."

Rick looked slightly green.

"Can we please not talk about a naked Beth? It's like thinking of my kid sister having sex and I really can't stomach that."

Personally naked Beth was one of his favorite thoughts but he could understand where Rick was coming from. Thinking of Merle having sex made him want to pour bleach in his ears to wipe the images from his brain.

"Aw c'mon Friendly, Darylena here hasn't even gotten her shirt off yet. He's going mighty slow with her. S'good thing though. Baby brother needs to do this right. You don't get second chances when it comes to girls like her."

Rick looked at Merle with shock. The older man was full of surprises and by the sounds of it he had already accepted Beth as a member of the family. Quirking a grin at Merle Rick dropped a bomb on Daryl.

"Speaking of second chances, what's this I hear about you and Carol Peletier?"

Daryl looked at his brother in astonishment and almost fell to the floor when he saw the telltale blush on his cheeks.

"Now, I thought we were talking bout Daryl and lil Greene here, not me" he sputtered.

Daryl laughed, "Not s'nice now, is it?"

"So what are you going to do about Beth's text" Rick asked.

Shaking his head Daryl stared at his phone. "Don't know what to do. M'not ready yet to tell her. I want her to want me as much as I want her before I tell her. She can't see me as just an animal."

Rick stood and clapped Daryl on the shoulder.

"You should give her the chance to make her own decision. I waited too long to tell Lori and she shut me out for almost two months and I went a little crazy. I swear the day she forgave me was the day we made Carl. Beth's a good girl and she always sees the best in people. I've seen how she looks at you too. Beth may not love you yet but she's damn close." As he grabbed his hat Rick looked at Daryl, "Maybe she'd like to go to that archery thing you've got going on at the park. I'll try to warn Carl away if she does go. I can't have you growling at my son now."

Rick gave Merle a nod and walked out of the house.

"Y'know he's right little brother. She's special and you can't keep something like this from her. "

Looking at his phone for a few moments Daryl shot Beth a quick text.

_There's an intro to archery course tomorrow if you want to come. We can talk about wolves then if you want._

Beth replied quickly.

_Well I guess I still get to call you Mr. Dixon if you're going to be teaching me. I'll bring lunch….I miss you. _

Daryl's heart clenched in his chest. He had to tell her and he had to keep her.


	6. Dirty Paws

**Hi!  
This is a chapter I'm leery about publishing.  
I don't know how I did so if it's horrible...lie and stroke my ego like you would Daryl.  
Again this is for everyone who's reviewed, followed, and favorited.  
I hope we meet and have man-harems during the ZA.  
And to Jaime for being the most amazeballs person ever.  
**

* * *

Daryl had never thought of himself as a nervous man but looking down at his bitten down fingernails he might have to rethink that.  
His girl (and she was **his** girl) was coming to talk to him about wolves. If he didn't know any better he'd swear Hershel was a sadist.

Maybe he could distract her and they could have this oh so important conversation later...much later.

Things were slow at the park so Rick had finally convinced Daryl to give an archery class. It didn't help that every time he saw Carl he gave him the puppy eyes and "I wanna be as badass as you, Daryl.".

How could he refuse?

As Daryl prepared the archery butts he heard the crunch of gravel that announced the arrival of Rick and Carl.

"Y'here early" Daryl grunted. It really was too early to be doing this. He hadn't slept at all since Beth had texted him.

Rick grinned wryly. He knew Daryl was inwardly panicking and covering it up with a surly attitude.

"Well Carl here wouldn't stop talking about how he was going to learn to be as awesome as you and he wanted to get an early start."

Carl looked away from the bow he was studying and smiled sheepishly.

"If I get good enough maybe you can take me hunting!"

Crap. He had gotten excited Carl.

Puberty was a harsh time for wolves. The hormones and the first impending shift made a pregnant woman's mood swings look subtle in comparison.

"We'll see."

Daryl knew logically that Carl had a childish crush on Beth but he couldn't help feeling...annoyed at the young boy.

Shaking his head to clear his more primal thoughts he looked at Rick through his shaggy hair.

"Am I doing the right thing?"

Rick didn't need to ask what Daryl meant. He had gone through the same thing with Lori and had agonized over when and if to tell her.

"You can't hide something like this from her. She's yours and you're hers. What would you do if she was hiding something from you?"

Sometimes Daryl hated how calm and rational Rick seemed.

As more and more people trickled in Daryl put on his professional face. He wasn't really a people person but he loved his job. He got to be outside in nature all day which helped him keep his impulses in check. He was tying on his armguards when he smelled her.

She always smelled so damn good and he had to choke down the low rumbling growl of approval her presence brought.

Grabbing an extra pair of guards Daryl turned and met Beth's gaze. She probably didn't even know that she was responding to him on an instinctual level but the smell of her curiosity and attraction was going to drive him insane one day.

"Thought maybe ya weren't going to come."

Beth could honestly say that in that moment she adored Daryl. He was always so sweet and flustered around her. A far cry from the gruff man he always seemed to be around others.

As she smiled at him she wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed. Daryl was always warm and smelled...well like Daryl. She could never get enough of his scent.

Daryl was always half amazed at how easily he accepted Beth's affection. He wasn't one for physical contact but he couldn't stop wanting it from Beth. Sexual or otherwise. She was small and soft in his arms and he could easily stay this way for hours.

"Beth!"

Carl came bounding from behind Rick and launched himself at Beth, almost knocking her over.;

This time Daryl really couldn't help the growl that came from deep in his chest and Beth looked at him stunned.

Scrambling away from Beth Carl adjusted his father's hat and hesitantly waved at her.

"Sorry...I was just excited to see you. Now that Judi's growing up I don't get to hang out with you anymore."

"Aww, I miss hanging out with you too Carl. Maybe I could come by and visit sometime."

Rick could barely contain his laughter.; His son smelled like a hormone factory and Daryl looked ready to commit untold horrors upon innocent bystanders.

"Son, you know Beth's got enough on her plate with school and dealing with **Daryl **here" he said trying to get through Carl's head that his crush was going to get him in deep shit.

Daryl couldn't stand being kept out of the conversation so he wrapped his arms around Beth's shoulders and pulled her into his body. It was a familiar position for both of them and Daryl's nose always ended up in her hair.

"Ya ready to learn Miss Greene?"

* * *

The next hour was pure hell for Daryl.

In addition to dealing with people who didn't seem to understand basic safety precautions Beth was testing his resolve to take things slow.

He had paced himself and took his cues from her. She loved physical affection but didn't seem ready to go any farther yet. He'd wait as long as it took for her to come to him but it didn't help that she was wearing jeans that seemed to be painted on and was pressing back against him when he came to correct her stance.

His balls were going to be permanently blue but he could smell underneath her normal scent of peaches and cotton the beginnings of arousal.

Beth liked him plastered against her back.

He liked it too. It featured prominently when he showered and in his bed late at night.

Beth knew she was making things erm...hard for Daryl but he was being such a gentleman and they had barely gotten to kissing!

Just because she was the dreaded V word didn't mean she didn't know what she wanted and she wanted Daryl.

As the class wound down Beth knew she was wet and Daryl seemed to know too somehow. His eyes were darker and he constantly came to "check her progress" and adjust the placement of her hips. She never thought her hips were especially sensitive but the feel of his large calloused hands gripping her was delicious.

"Somethin' on your mind Greene?" Daryl growled in her ear.

Beth gasped as the vibrations seemed to echo through her body.

"I..."

Her phone was ringing and Daryl audibly groaned.

"Should probably get that." He said as he backed away. For some reason he almost seemed relieved.

Her father needed her at home to help with an emergency surgery. Grabbing her things in a hurry she went and hugged Daryl and kissed him full on the mouth.

She pulled away too quickly for him to reciprocate.

"I still need to ask you about wolves. One came up to me the other night and it really weirded me out. Maybe you come by for dinner tonight?"

Nodding so hard it almost seemed his brain was reverberating Daryl was thankful for the opportunity to collect himself and show Beth on his own terms...kind of.

A hand clasped his shoulder and Rick looked at him in sympathy.

"Seems like you got a little reprieve but you know Hershel is expecting you to tell her any day now."

Always the voice of reason Rick was.

Yeah, sometimes Daryl hated him.

* * *

The surgery was long and Beth was dog tired by the time they were ready to clean up and go home. Daryl was coming though and she needed to be awake and...well not smelling like blood and fur.

The shower was too short in her estimation but dinner was almost ready and Daryl would be there any minute. Beth didn't know why she felt so close to him. It had only been a little more than two months and already she was thinking of herself with his last name.

Daryl was perfect. Nothing could change that.

As Daryl stubbed out his cigarette he looked at the farmhouse in trepidation. It looks nice and innocent but he knew terror lay within.

Hershel and Annette weren't going to rest until he told Beth one of his darkest secrets and despite all he knew about Beth's loving heart he couldn't imagine this going over well.

"Beth, you know how you saw a wolf the other night. That was me. Oh and you're my mate and I'll only love you until I die. Pass the biscuits.".

Daryl sighed and knocked on the front door and was almost bowled over by Annette.

"Oh you're not eating enough! You look like you've lost weight. Daryl, I'll always feed you and you need to stay strong so I can have beautiful little grandbabies."

As Beth looked over her mother's shoulder she and Daryl shared the same shocked look. They had barely started being together and Annette had already gotten grandchildren on the brain.

Though a little girl with his eyes and Beth's hair...

"Annette leave the man alone." Hershel said coming to shake Daryl's hand.

"Come in son. She's cooked enough for an army so you best be prepared to eat."

Daryl wasn't fooled. He knew what Hershel was expecting and maybe it was better to just get it over with like pulling a band-aid.

As he walked in he grabbed Beth's hand in his own and after marveling, like always, the contrast between them he pulled her to the side.

"After dinner, can I talk to you."

He tried to look reassuring but his panic must have shown and Beth paled.

"It's not anything bad! I wouldn't do that to you."

Daryl pulled her into his arms, oblivious to her parents looking on in approval. They knew Daryl would never do anything Beth was against.

Beth seemed to latch onto him like a barnacle. Her little hands clutching fistfuls of his vest.

"Just...are you ok? Nothing's wrong right?"

How could anything be wrong when she was looking at him like she was terrified, like she loved him.

He tucked her head under his chin and held her tighter.

"No, nothing's wrong. You said you wanted to talk about wolves, remember?  
He felt her sigh in relief.

"I didn't think you'd remember."

Daryl scoffed a bit.  
"Of course I remember. Ya sent me a text at eight in the morning. Now come on your parents are lookin' at me strange. "

Daryl never ate as well as he did at the Greenes and Annette was fairly glowing when he complimented everything she made especially her peach cobbler that he had thirds of. He was hungry yes but mainly...he was stalling.

Taking a breath to steel himself he waited until Beth and Annette had cleared the table and steered Beth outside to the porch.

"You...you said a wolf came up to you the other day. What if..."  
God, he couldn't do this.

"What is it?"  
Beth only looked on in curiosity. She didn't know what was coming.

"What if that wolf was a man."  
Beth rolled her eyes.  
"C'mon Daryl, Werewolves? I don't scare easy."

Daryl's face never changed.

He was dead serious.

"Daryl?!"

He simply looked at her and shrugged off his vest.

"You know I care about you and I can't keep secrets from you." He said as he pulled his shirt over his head.

Beth was momentarily distracted by his glorious chest and she'd never thought of herself as a girl who liked chest hair but...well there it was.

She wondered how it would feel under her fingers.

Then he turned from her and she had to hold back a gasp.

His back was littered with scars and as she watched it seemed like something was...shifting underneath his skin.

"Daryl, what's going on?!"

All she got back was a groan.

Daryl fell to his knees and it seemed like his back and limbs were contorting.

The change didn't take long, maybe a minute but Beth didn't make a sound.

The wolf with the rabbit was in front of her and it was Daryl.

Her Daryl was a wolf.

Beth walked back in the house and Daryl ran as fast as he could. He couldn't deal with her rejection. He'd never felt so horrible even when his mother died.

As she walked back outside with a rolled up newspaper Beth looked at her father in shock.

"You think he doesn't find it funny?"


	7. If These Sheets Were States

**I bet you weren't expecting another chapter so soon.  
But boom!  
This one is...a little saucy.  
I typed my heart out.  
Leave some tasty reviews.  
Thanks to Jaime for being so awesome I let her have Reedus for ZA repopulation. **

* * *

In retrospect Beth would admit maybe her reaction hadn't been the best but all she could think was how beautiful he was as a wolf and how she was going to fuck with him.

She had planned on packing snausages with his lunch but no...he ran and now she had gone from mildly annoyed he'd waited to tell her to full Greene Rage.

Beth grabbed his fallen clothes and stomped over to his truck. Throwing a terse, "I'll be back" at her father she rooted through Daryl's pants until she found his keys. They were going to talk this through if she had to catch him and collar him.

* * *

Daryl's mind was blank. In this form his mind was more animalistic, primal and all he could do at the moment Beth walked away from him was run. His chest hurt and his lungs burned but he had to make it home. Maybe he'd get drunk.

As he shifted outside his and Merle's house he realized with a groan he'd left not only his clothes but his truck at the Greene's. Hopefully Hershel would take pity on him and drop them off.

Opening the door and striding in completely naked Merle merely raised an eyebrow. It wasn't the first time either of them had walked around naked after a shift but smelling his brother's panic and sorrow was something rare, especially since Daryl had been going with the little Greene.

"The hell happen to you baby brother?"

Daryl seemed to visibly deflate. His shoulders hunched and his hair covered his eyes.

"I showed her and she walked away from me."

Merle was speechless.

"She walked away an' you just let her. Ya didn't fight?!"

Merle was on his feet in an instant.

"Did ya think maybe she was shocked? I swear if you don't go back there I'll beat your ass my damn self."

It had been a while since Daryl had been on the receiving end of Merle's anger. Annoyance, yes. Pissed, absolutely. But anger was something that they didn't show to each other. The scars were there and they knew their limits.

"Can I at least put some fucking clothes on?" Daryl never dealt well with being chastised. He was too independent and it rankled to know he had been in the wrong. He should have waited for her. He would wait for her.

Beth was worth it.

Beth was also barreling down his road and squealing to a stop.

Daryl ran and threw on some boxer briefs and physically winced when he heard how hard she slammed his door.

His girl was full of fire and he was on the receiving end.

Merle was currently popping the tab on a new can of beer and settling himself down to watch.

Never let it be said he didn't take advantage of opportunities when the presented themselves.

Free entertainment was rare these days.

* * *

Beth may have been taking out her frustrations on Daryl's truck. She may also have been imagining his face every time she stomped on the accelerator.

As she slammed his truck's door unnecessarily hard Beth spared a thought to what she would say and immediately dismissed such thoughts. She kick his ass and maybe kiss him.

Or vice versa.

Stupid, silly, sexy man-wolf.

"DARYL DIXON GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE NOW!"

Merle and Daryl were suitably impressed at hour loud such a little woman could get.

Taking a breath and squaring his shoulders Daryl opened the door.

"Look Beth I...  
"No you look! I was just joking and you ran away!"

Daryl looked at her in confusion.

"Joking?"

Beth cocked her hip out and upped her glare, ignoring his delicious chest and lovely...arms...and that V of his hips.

Shaking herself she cleared her head of her lust thoughts and continued.

"I was just going to boop you on the nose with a rolled up newspaper but no...you threw a fit and turned tail and ran!"

Beth expected a lot of reactions. Shame maybe or even anger to match her own.

She didn't expect him to let loose full belly laughs and wrap her in his lovely arms.

Daryl couldn't help laughing. She was just so damn cute.

Pressing a quick kiss to her temple Daryl nuzzled into her hair and imprinted her scent into her consciousness again.

He hadn't lost her.

"Why are you laughing at me?! I'm still angry!"

Daryl guffaws had trickled down into silent chuckles.

"I thought you were walkin' away from me. I couldn't stand if you turned from me. You're the best thing in my life Beth."

Beth went quiet and her eyes filled with tears.

He had been terrified and she just tore into him like a vicious bitch.

(Her mind unhelpfully pointed out that if her boyfriend was a wolf that kind of made her a bitch in a weird way.)

"Hey...don't cry."

Daryl squeezed her tighter and even licked a stray tear that wound itself down her cheek.

It must have worked because she giggled and Daryl smiled at the sound.

"Now can we go inside. 'M kinda naked and it's gettin' cold."

"How can you be cold when you're so warm?" Beth mumbled into his chest.

"C'mon. Merle's probably laughing his ass of at us."

Daryl grabbed Beth's hand and fairly dragged her inside .

"Hi Merle!"

Merle and Daryl both looked in shock at Beth's seeming mood swings.

"Well hey there lil' bit. Heard you chewing out baby brother there. Needs to hear it from someone other than me sometimes. Figure he'd actually listen to you" Merle said with a salute of his beer.

"Maybe it's because I'm prettier than you." she replied with wide-eyed innocence.

Both men smirked.

"Well...ol' Merle's going to hit the hay. You two be good now...or if you can't at least be quiet."

Beth's blush was bright but her eyes were twinkling with laughter.

"We'll try."

After Merle left Daryl was left alone with Beth.

In his underwear.

They had just had a fight and his blood was still pounding and all he wanted to do was kiss her and maybe fuck her until she screamed.

You know, the usual.

Beth surprised him by winding her arms around his neck and nearly assaulting him orally.

He recovered quickly and took control of the kiss, slowing it down and delving into her mouth to taste her.

Her taste was almost a concentrated version of her smell and he wondered how she tasted all over.

Angling her head gently Daryl drew her tongue into his mouth and suckled lightly and reveled in her groan.

It seemed, however, his little Beth was bent on driving him crazy.

He could smell how wet she was getting and he was this close to slamming her against the wall and grinding into her until she couldn't walk.

Following her jaw line he latched on to the skin of her collarbone and sucked hard.

She'd stayed with him and she'd wear his mark so everyone would know she was **his. **Only his.

Gently withdrawing from her with a small nip to her neck he rested his forehead against hers.

"We need ta slow down a bit sweetheart. We've both just gone through something big and I need you clear headed when we do this."

Sometimes he hated being so good. Her pouting was going to get her well and truly screwed. In his bed. For days.

"Can I spend the night?" Beth said as she nuzzled his chest. She'd never known that she adored chest hair but now it was in front of her and on Daryl she thought it might be one of his sexier traits in a very long list she had compiled late at night in her lonely bed.

"We don't have to do anything. I just want to be near you."

"C'mon then." he said pulling her gently down the hall.

Daryl's room was like him; quiet and earthy. His bed was high and beside it lay his precious crossbow.

As Beth looked over his room Daryl fetched her one of his shirts to wear. She was going to sleep in his bed, wearing his clothes, with his mark on his neck.

He rumbled in pleasure.

"You know when you do that it almost sounds like you're purring?" she said taking the offered shirt.

"M' a wolf. Not no damn cat." Daryl mumbled as he climbed in the bed.

Beth threw a wink over her shoulder and pulled her shirt off.

Daryl's brain short circuited.

Though he could only see her back, he was mesmerized. Her skin was flawless and creamy and her unbound hair glinted in the dim light of his bedroom.

As she reached behind her to unhook her bra he caught glimpses of perfectly shaped pert breasts.

Her nipples were already hard and baby pink. Daryl wanted nothing more than to bury his head between her lovely breasts and worship them with his mouth.

"Get over here." he growled..

Beth simply smiled and slid his flannel over her head, surreptitiously smelling the collar.

Maybe there was a little animal in her as well.

Beth slid between his sheets and he tugged her back against his chest, shifting them around so she was furthest from the door.

"Woman you will be the death of me." he said as he nuzzled her neck.

Daryl couldn't let her teasing stand and lay another love bite on the other side of his neck.

She'd be spotted like a leopard by the time she left to go home.

Beth retaliated by grinding her ass into his crotch and Daryl let out a full blown snarl.

"None of that now. We'll talk in the morning."

"Fine. Spoilsport."

He could tell Beth had something on her mind as she was carelessly tracing the muscles of his arms and humming to herself.

"Daryl."

"Mm?" he grumbled.

"Would you be freaked out if I said I think I might love you?"

His eyes flew open.

His mate loved him back.

"Would you be freaked out if I said I've loved you from the very beginning?"

Beth turned on her other side and pressed a kiss right above his racing heart.

He had no more words and even if he did they wouldn't be able to get through the lump in his throat.

He'd had his mother's love sometimes, Merle's and Rick's brotherly affection but he'd never had love like this.

Daryl just wrapped Beth tighter in his arms and both of them fell asleep with gentle smiles on their faces.

* * *

Beth woke up with something warm and hard poking her in the stomach.

She'd seen pictures and watched porn but this was Daryl and she had a right to touch him.

Even if touching him while he was sleeping might be more molestation than exploration.

Running her fingers through the thin trail of dark hair on his stomach Beth gathered her courage and slipped her hand beneath his underwear.

Daryl was apparently magnificent everywhere.

He was smooth and so warm as she gripped him loosely.

Beth stroked up and with a gasp she locked eyes with a groaning sex-god.

* * *

Daryl was having an amazing dream.

He was surrounded by Beth's scent and it felt like her tiny hand was wrapped around his cock.

Imagine his surprise when he caught a hint of guilt in her scent and caught her gaze.

Daryl growled and wrapped his hand around Beth and showed her how to touch him.

She thought she was gripping him too tightly but from the sounds coming from deep within Daryl's chest she was apparently doing something right.

His hips were moving with her and his eyes were locked on her own.

Paying attention to the ridge that separated the head of his erection from his shaft Beth began to add a little twist to her wrist movements and Daryl seemed to lose it, full on fucking her fist.

"Beth...gon' come" he ground out.

She continued to jerk him and leaned closer to suck his lower lip into her mouth.

"Come Daryl. Please. " Beth was so aroused and so wet she couldn't stand it. She wanted to make him fall apart in her hands.

Unable to do anything but follow her command Daryl came so hard his vision dimmed at the edges.

When he opened his eyes Beth was kneeling above him chest and stomach splattered with his cum.

Beth looked down curiously and swiped a finger through the sticky mess on her breast and popped it in her mouth.

It didn't taste bad like Maggie said and she wanted to taste him and feel him come in her mouth.

The look on Daryl's face was feral as he watched her lick his come off her fingers and he could feel his flagging erection perking up in interest.

"Your turn now sweetheart" he panted.

Daryl grabbed her by the waist and threw her on her back.

Latching onto her nipples with his mouth his right hand slid down her taut stomach to cup her pussy.

"Y'soaked girl. Like jerking me off that much? Like the taste of me? Y'smell so damn good covered in me. Only me."

Beth wasn't a stranger to pleasure. She knew how to take care of herself but this was an entirely new ballgame. Daryl's voice was made for sex. His gravelly growls causing her to clench around nothing and whimper.

"I'ma take care of you. Don't worry sweetheart."

He lay sucking kisses on her glorious breasts and followed his nose to where her scent was strongest.

Daryl smelled her nervousness mixed with her arousal but couldn't stop himself from quickly flicking out his tongue to taste her.

He moaned with pleasure at her taste and he knew he'd be doing this as often as possible.

Wedging his shoulders between his thighs Daryl slid two fingers inside her and almost came from how tight she was.

"Taste so good baby girl. Make you come so good for me." he rumbled into her thigh.

Daryl curved his fingers so he could brush her g-spot and latched onto her clit and sucked.

* * *

Beth didn't think she could remember anything other than Daryl's name. She was moaning loud enough to be heard outside the house and she couldn't stop.

She was so close and she loved him so much.

"Daryl!...Pleasepleasepleaseplease!" she cried.

Daryl slipped a third finger inside of her, growled against her clit and felt her fall apart in his hand.

He smelled her pleasure and tasted her orgasm and was extraordinarily pleased that that his facial hair would smell like Beth all day.

She understood now why an orgasm was called 'the little death'. Even after Daryl had climbed up her body she was twitching and panting

"Now you're the one who's purring." Daryl said smugly as he looked down at her.

Beth pulled him down so his weight was on her and brought his mouth to hers.

She could taste herself on his tongue and could feel herself responding to him again. Daryl apparently felt the same way and was grinding his hard cock into her stomach.

A loud knock caused them to freeze and Daryl groaned.  
"I thought I told you two to be quiet!" Merle snickered.

"Baby brother, lil bit's daddy just called. He wants her home."

Beth sighed and pushed Daryl to the side and went to tidy herself before going home. Hopefully her father would just take her at her word that nothing happened.

They hadn't had sex...technically.

Mumbling something about 'goddamn cockblocks' Daryl threw on a random shirt and a relatively clean pair of jeans.

Even though he hadn't gotten to bury himself inside her he was inordinately pleased. His mate was happy and satisfied and he was the cause.

After she splashed some water on her face and straightened her hair Beth looked at herself in shock. She could honestly say she was glowing. Her color was high and her eyes were sparkling.

Her daddy would totally know.

Sighing she opened Daryl's bathroom door and ran straight into him.

"Ya daddy's going to shoot me." he said nipping at the dark mark on her neck.

"Maggie's 'living in sin' with her boyfriend so I'd have to be an unwed teenage mother to lose my place as favorite daughter."

Daryl snorted against her neck.

"Like I'd ever let you get knocked up with someone else's baby. You're mine and I'm yours. Forever."

Beth was shocked at how easily Daryl spoke of such a commitment. Maggie and all her friends always spoke of men running for the hills once the future was brought up but here was Daryl offering her forever.

She truly loved him and told him so.

Taking her hand and placing it on his heart he simply nodded and kissed her knuckles.

"Gotta get you home now sweetheart before your daddy comes after me with his shotgun."

Daryl laced their fingers together and led her out to his truck, past a smirking Merle who couldn't keep himself from giving his brother a brofist.

"Glad you two made up but next time do it a little quieter. Merle's not as young as he used t'be and needs his beauty sleep."

Daryl and Beth merely looked at each other and grinned.  
They were quiet on the way back to Beth's home but they couldn't stop touching each other. Daryl's arm around her shoulder. Beth's hand on his knee. Her head nuzzled into his shoulder.

As they came to a stop outside the old farmhouse Beth saw her parents waiting outside for her on the porch.

"We'd best go face them together."

As Beth hopped out she grabbed for Daryl's hand and clutched it reflexively. For the first time she was prepared to go against her father's wishes. She wouldn't give Daryl up for anything. He was her future and her daddy had to understand.

"Beth dear, you didn't call all night! We were so worried." Annette fussed.

"S'my fault Miss Annette. I didn't think Beth was in any state to drive home so she slept over last night."

Annette could barely contain her glee and Daryl knew she was already planning the wedding and the kids.

Not that he minded.

Hershel's reaction was more surprising to both Beth and Daryl.

"Good call son. I know how Greene women are when they get a bee in their bonnet. Best thing to do is give them time. Now, " he stood up, "who wants breakfast?"

Beth looked at her father in shock and then bounded up the stairs to hug him.

"I love you daddy."

"I know sweetheart. Now get your mate and come inside."

Daryl froze and looked at Beth.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Mate? This is the first I've heard about that."

Daryl chewed nervously at his thumb and mumbled out, "Didn't want to overload ya with too much too soon."

Beth stood in front of him and took his hand in hers.

"I don't mind being your mate. I know wolves mate for life so I know what this means."

Daryl looked at her hopefully but saw when her annoyance broke through.

"But I do mind you keeping things from me."

He almost whined but kept the sound buried in his throat.

"M'sorry."

She was so beautiful and she smelled of him and her together. She'd smell like that when he filled her belly with his pups but there was time for that yet.

Pulling him up the stairs Beth smiled brightly at her everyone.

"Now let's eat breakfast."


	8. Alone Together

**What!?  
****Another update!  
****Madness!  
****Now I'm thinking of Reedus dressed as a Spartan.  
****I love my brain sometimes.**  
**This is my attempt at drama.  
I struggled so ignore everything that sucks and think of Daryl and his dirty-talking voice. **

* * *

Beth had begged and pleaded and exercised her previously unused feminine wiles to get Daryl to teach her how to track.

She'd grown up in a area where most people had hunted at least once in their life but she had gone through a vehement Vegan phase and had refused to even touch a rifle.

It seemed to her that tracking was the middle road and there was the added benefit of seeing Daryl in his natural habitat.

Daryl didn't walk through the woods, he stalked.

It was mesmerizing and she almost ran into a tree while she was staring at his ass.

He must have known what she was looking at and how she was reacting because he wore the sexiest little smirk she'd ever seen.

But maybe she was biased.

* * *

Daryl was wondering when Beth would realize he had been leading them in circles for 20 minutes. He wasn't a proud man but who didn't like to be appreciated?

Even if it was just his ass.

From the way his little Beth smelled she was obviously enjoying the view and since it was such a beautiful day he felt no compunction to hurry up.

The wind shifted and Daryl froze.

He smelled blood.

Wolf blood but no one he knew.

Motioning behind himself for Beth to still he lifted his head and scented the air.

Beth was startled when Daryl made a sudden movement and almost squeaked aloud.

Something felt wrong and she barely kept quiet.

Daryl grabbed her hand and veered through the brush. It seemed like he knew where he was going and all she could do was follow.

The smell of blood was growing thick and Daryl was worried.

Wolves generally avoided others and were not accident prone, Merle notwithstanding.

Ducking underneath a low branch Daryl was shocked.

There, lying at the foot of a tree, was a sleek black wolf panting in pain at the gunshot wound in it's right hindquarter.

Daryl knew more than anyone how wounded animals reacted and signaled for Beth to stay still.

Purposely stepping on a twig the wolf, a female, snapped her eyes open with a growl and attempted to stand.

Daryl gently placed his crossbow on the ground and edged closer.

"Calm down an' smell me. You know what I am."

The wolf snorted a breath and laboriously got to her feet.

A small hand fell gently on his shoulder.

"We should take her to daddy. He'll know what to do."

"Ya heard the girl. Gonna take you to her daddy. His name's Hershel. He knows 'bout us and can help you."

He gingerly knelt and took the wolf in his arms, careful not to jostle her too much. She barely made a sound and Daryl was worried she had lost too much blood.

"Stop for a second Daryl."

Beth went and unbuttoned her shirt and wadded it up to help staunch the bleeding.

"Y'ain't cold?"

"Don't worry about me. We need to get to daddy."

They both hustled and made it back to Hershel's in less than 45 minutes.

The wolf never made a sound but looked at them warily, seemingly mistrustful of her good fortune.

As the screeched to a stop in front of the farm house Hershel came out to meet them. They hadn't been quiet coming down the road and he was visibly worried.

Daryl lifted the wolf and brought her inside, Beth and Hershel leading the way to the exam room.

Beth helped her father scrub in and after a few lidocaine shots began to dig out the bullet.

She never thought she'd use the word 'stoic' for a wolf but there was no other way to describe the one in front of her.

Even Daryl seemed to be impressed as he hovered in the doorway.

"Either come in or go sit down, son. You're making me nervous."

Daryl ran his hand through his hair and sat outside the door. Nervous for someone he'd never even met.

"Now Miss," Hershel said, addressing the wolf, "You need blood. Daryl here's going to donate so you heal faster. You already know he's just like you."

Beth giggled at Daryl's put upon expression but he took his jacket off anyway for Hershel to set up the line.

As she finished taping the wound up Beth looked fondly at Daryl.

She couldn't help being enamored of her strong man-puppy.

He might growl and be terse with others but with her he was perfect.

"Oh! Daryl, won't she need clothes when she turns back?"

Daryl chuckled.

"Yeah, 'less she's one of those naked hippies who like to wander around the woods."

The wolf snapped her jaws at him and Daryl bared his teeth.

"**You're** not top dog here. This is **my **family and you best show respect."

Hershel watched with a smile on his face. He knew Daryl had claimed them all as pack.

They were all one strange, loving family.

"Beth go and grab some of Maggie's clothes and a blanket. She's going to be cold."

As Beth hurried upstairs to Maggie's old room she thought for a second on how her life had changed.

She had someone now who completed her. He loved her and her family and he wanted her forever.

Beth grabbed a pair of yoga pants and one of Maggie's old t-shirts and ran back down the stairs.

Daryl was rubbing his arm where the IV had been and was obviously hamming it up for sympathy.

His pout was adorable but she'd never call him that in front of her father.

Beth left the clothes folded on the table and went to kiss Daryl's booboo while Hershel's back was turned.

Daryl eyes darkened as she lifted his arm and pressed a kiss to the already healing puncture would.

He then growled aloud as she swiped her tongue across it and brought a drop of his blood into her mouth.

It didn't taste like the copper of her blood but rich and spicy.

Daryl couldn't take it.

He grabbed Beth's ponytail and brought her closer, kissing her fiercely and tasting his own blood in her mouth.

The wolf huffed out a breath and Hershel pointedly looked away. He knew Daryl and Beth were going to be affectionate but there were some things a father just doesn't want to see.

"Beth sweetie, can you make up the guest room for Daryl ? He needs to stay to help out our injured friend here."

Beth ducked her head beneath Daryl's to hide her furious blush.

The tension between the two of them was palpable and her mate probably had it worse than she did.

After their little interlude in Daryl's bed the night he told her they hadn't had much time to themselves.

Daryl was working round the clock for deer hunting season and Beth was not only going to school but working at her father's clinic.

In fact, their little tracking class was the first time in two weeks they had been alone.

Poor Daryl.

His dangly bits must be aching.

"Yes, daddy"

Beth untangled herself from Daryl and noted with feminine pride that he had to adjust his erection to try and make it less noticeable

It didn't really help and Daryl seemed to be hunching in on himself to try and make up the difference.

As he watched Beth flounce out the room Hershel clapped him on the shoulder.  
"I know you're both young but...not in my house. Ideally you'd marry her first, right son?"

Hershel's grip tightened and Daryl nodded dutifully.

It wasn't as if he hadn't thought of marriage and kids with Beth but she was only 19 and he thought she might want more time before settling down with a 36 year old man who could shift into a wolf and had a drunken idiot for a brother.

Daryl sighed and wished Hershel a good night.

The older man needed his rest.

The wolf's eyes were at half mast and Daryl left the room with an unspoken promise to get to the bottom of this mess in the morning.

* * *

Beth couldn't sleep.

She knew Daryl was right down the hall and probably sleeping in his underwear and she wasn't with him .

'Well this just won't do' she thought to herself.

The house was quiet as she tiptoed to the guest room.

Her parents were asleep and she hoped Daryl didn't mind a little cuddle...or more.

Honestly, she was about to crawl out of her skin.

A girl can only take care of herself so much before she needs more.

Daryl was sleeping flat on his back, the pillow fallen on the floor.

She must be in love because she found the tiny bit of drool at the corner of his mouth adorable.

Toeing off her slippers Beth lifted the covers and slid in next to him, latching on like a love-starved barnacle.

Daryl must have known on some level she was next to him because his arm came around her and he shifted until her head was on his shoulder.

Beth stifled a yawn.

He was so warm and smelled so wonderful she couldn't think of anything but sleep so she closed her eyes and let herself drift away.

* * *

Daryl could have sworn he went to bed alone but when he woke up it was to an armful of warm, delicious Beth.

While he was quite happy she had sought him out sometime last night he was anxious that Hershel might find out.

He specifically told Daryl to avoid any funny business in his house and now Beth was in his arms and he was once again just in his underwear.

The sun was just starting to peak through the trees and Daryl thought they'd have enough time to get Beth back to bed and to avoid any drama.

Hershel may be in his 70s but he was still a force to be reckoned with.

Allowing himself to breathe in the scent of her hair one last time Daryl nudged Beth until her sleep heavy eyes cracked open.

"G'morning sweetheart."

Beth grumbled something about ' too early' and tried to bury herself in his chest.

"Beth, you know if your daddy sees you in here he's going to be pissed and might try and neuter me."

She sighed and looked up at Daryl.

"I'll protect you. I need those for the future."

Daryl snorted and lay a kiss on the curve of her shoulder.

"The future huh?"

"The very near future. I'm about to spontaneously combust here!"

He groaned.

"Y'can't tell a man that, Beth. I can't do anything about it right now."

Her pouting was going to kill him.

"But the second I can..."

He bit down harshly on her neck and Beth responded beautifully with a moan.

"Now, run along before everyone gets up."

Beth huffed and flounced out of bed.

She was about to turn and say something snarky back at him but he smacked her on the ass first

Daryl wasn't prepared for the gush of her sweet scent when he did and he had to restrain himself from grabbing her and keeping her in the bed for hours.

"Go...now." He growled out.

Beth walked away with a smirk.

As she snuck back into her room Beth wasn't prepared to run into her mother.

Annette seemed to be totally fine with the fact that her daughter had spent the night in her boyfriend's room.

In fact she almost looked to be beaming and Beth could have sworn she heard something about grandpuppies.

Shaking it off she changed quickly into jeans and a t-shirt and walked downstairs to see a beautiful black woman sitting at her dining room table eating bacon.

Taking a seat across from her Beth introduced herself.

"Uh...hi. My name's Beth. How are you feeling?"

The woman seemed graceful and strong as can be and barely looked like she had been shot just the day before.

"My name is Michonne. I'm fine. Thank you for all your help."

Yeah stoic was a great word for her.

Before things could get awkward Daryl came in with his and Beth's plate.

Daryl must have been starving because his plate had at least three layers of eggs, sausage, and bacon along with biscuits.

As Hershel and Annette came in with their own plates all eyes went to Michonne.

"So, would you like to explain what happened?" Hershel said.

Michonne folded her napkin and sighed.

"Are there others like us?" she questioned Daryl.

Daryl nodded and caught Michonne's gaze.

"Why?"

"Because this will affect all of us."

* * *

As Rick, Merle, and Carl met Michonne Beth's anxiety went up.

This woman didn't look like she would fear anything but there was something hounding her and it set everyone's teeth on edge.

Michonne gingerly sat down on a chair, still sore from the day before

"I've been alone for a very long time." she began.

"I lost the people closest to me and decided I didn't need anyone until...until I met Andrea."

Michonne took a deep breath and continued.  
"Andrea was like us; a wolf. She brought me back from the brink but I lost her too. There's a man who hates us. He blames us for his wife and daughter's death so he's making it his mission to kill as many wolves as he can."

Daryl was gripping Beth's hand tightly and his teeth were bared.

"So you brought him to us?!" he exploded as he jumped to his feet.

"We have families!"

"Daryl, calm down" Rick said, dragging a hand through his hair.  
"What else could she do? She needed help and Hershel is the best man in the state."

Merle had been silent thus far but snorted at Rick.

"Yeah she needed help an' now she's got it. Don't like no madman threatening pack."

Michonne simply nodded at Merle in thanks and caught Daryl's eye.

"His name is Philip and he has a group of men that hunt with him. They call him the Governor because he's charming and charismatic but it's all a facade. On the inside he's a monster, a real monster."

"Well what can we do?" Beth asked.

Daryl looked at her incredulously.

"You ain't doing nothing. I'm keeping this as far away from you as possible."

Even Michonne could see that was the wrong thing to say.

"Daryl, love, this affects you and affects the people we know. Therefore I'm going to help." Beth said in a sickly sweet tone as she dug her nails into Daryl's palm.

Quailing in the face of such defiance Daryl sighed and stretched his hand. She hadn't broken the skin but it still hurt.

He loved Beth but sometimes she reminded him of a wet kitten hissing at the world.

"At least stick by me."

Beth knew she won so she figured she could give Daryl that much.

"Maybe it would be best if you sat this out. He has even less sympathy for humans who are with wolves. Something about dirtying yourself with animals?"

Beth's face turned red.

"Is that supposed to make me want to stay away? This man's horrible and I want to kick his ass myself!"

"Beth! No cursing!"

Hershel looked stern but he understood herself where her vehemence was coming from. He dealt with men like this Governor years ago when he was young.

Carl looked at his father with wide eyes.

"What will this mean for Mom and Judi?"

Rick knelt in front of his son.

"You know we'll all protect them. You'll be able to come out with us soon and then you can help us keep everyone safe."

Carl straightened his shoulders and nodded at his father, resolute.

"He close to here?" Merle asked.

"When he shot me we were about 2 hours north. I was trying to end this once and for all but he trapped me. I only got loose by scratching his eye out."

Beth shuddered lightly.

Carl and Merle both looked impressed but Beth felt nauseous.

Daryl must have picked up on it because he tucked her further into his side and gave Michonne the stink-eye.

"So now we got an angry, wolf killer that's missing an eye? Great and he's coming right for us."

Hershel seemed to be thinking deeply. He sighed and looked around.

"Seems like the safest thing to do would be to keep all the women and children in one place we can defend. I don't mind everyone staying here. Quarters may be a little cramped but it's safe."

Rick, Daryl, and Merle shared a look and nodded to Hershel.

As Rick and Carl left to go get Lori and Judith Daryl and Merle went outside for a second.

"Not doing so hot are ya baby brother" Merle asked as he handed Daryl a cigarette.

Daryl groaned a took a long drag.

"Can't get any fucking time alone. It's killin' me."

"Well maybe you two can bunk together."

Daryl shook his head.

"Hershel told me not in the house."

Merle just laughed.

"Well then think outside the box, boy! We got a hayloft right over there you can use. You'll be useless until you do and from the way she's acting she wants it just as bad."

Throwing an arm around his brother's shoulders Merle brought them both back into the house.

"Now you stay here and work this out with Lil Bit and her pa. I'ma go get our shit so we can make a stand here."

Daryl watched his brother drive away from the window.

He really was going to be useless if he couldn't stay around Beth.

Every instinct he had was screaming to take her and run. Keep her close and safe at all times.

Sighing Daryl went to find Hershel who was cleaning his old shotgun at the dining room table.

"Y'need something son?"  
"I need to be around Beth."

Hershel stopped and looked at him incredulously.

"I thought we already agreed; not in the house."

Daryl clenched his fists and tried to hide the blush riding high on his cheekbones.

"I'm not talking about...that. I'm just talking about being near her. I can't think when she's not here. All I can focus on is keeping her safe and I can't do that if she's not with me."

Hershel placed the gun on the table and stood.

"If it's alright with her you can stay in her room **but** I expect the door to be open at all times."

Daryl grumbled but agreed. He'd get some sleep and he'd get his mate tucked by his side where she was meant to be.

* * *

Beth was remaking the first guest bedroom's bed when a taut, muscled stomach was pressed against her back and a nose was buried in her hair.

"Ya daddy don't mind if I sleep in your bed."

Beth looked over her shoulder in shock.

"I don't know what you did to convince him but you must be magic to have gotten him to agree."

Daryl sighed and pulled away so he could spin her around and talk to her face to face.

"We gotta keep the door open but other than that I'm sure we'll be fine."

Beth snuck her hand between their bodies and rubbed her palm over the prominent tent in his weathered jeans.

"Aww, my poor wolf. All ready to go and nowhere to be."

Daryl was panting and growling all at the same time. His pupils were huge and there was only the thinnest ring of blue to be seen.

"I'm going to remember all your teasing little girl and one day soon I'll make you pay." he said as he licked a fat stripe on her jaw.

"I know I'm not the only one aching here."

He grabbed her wrists and held them in one large hand while sneaking his other hand down the front of her pants.

"I can feel how wet you are and God knows I can smell it. You're hurting and empty and soon I'm going to bury myself so deep inside you won't ever get me out. "

Beth was gasping and rocking against his palm.

She was so close but when she was just about to crest he pulled back.

"Daryl! Please!"

Daryl chuckled and lay a chaste kiss on her forehead.

"Nah sweetheart. I'm going to let you burn for it. Soon. I promise." and with that he walked away leaving Beth to wonder if there were enough batteries in the world to help her through this.


	9. Silhouettes

**Yay!**  
**Updates for everyone!  
****I am super super nervous about this so I typed it while looking at all my Reedus posters and talking to Jaimek45 who helped me through this.  
****Reedus helps everything.  
Formatting is weird as I am on my roommate's laptop.  
Deal and love me!  
LOVE ME!  
*sobs hysterically***

* * *

Daryl had a plan.

He had promised Hershel he wouldn't do anything with Beth inside the house but as Merle so helpfully pointed out there were other places to go so Daryl had spent a week planning.

It was hard keeping things from Beth and finding reasons to go to the barn everyday but he needed this to be perfect.

Merle was on his side and Rick had been enlisted to help, even if it was rather reluctantly.

The thought of sex and Beth still gave him the heebies. 

The farm had settled down into a routine.

Michonne grew strong again and took to patrolling the woods around Hershel's land while Beth and Lori stayed and watched the children.

The first time Daryl saw Beth holding Judith the breath caught in his throat.

Beth was made to be a mother. 

There was still tension between Daryl and Carl though mostly on Daryl's side.  
His animal brain couldn't let go of the fact that his unclaimed mate was being lusted after by someone else, even if it was an adolescent boy.  
Beth understood and tried to put some distance between her and Carl but it was hard in such tight quarters.  
After almost a dozen growled out conversations between the boy and Daryl Carl finally figured out his childhood crush was going nowhere and would get him in some serious shit with someone he regarded as an uncle.

Beth tried as hard as she could to tempt Daryl as they lay in her bed but he respected Hershel too much to do anything under his roof.  
Besides, he fully expected things to get loud when it finally happened and it wouldn't do to have her parents hearing everything.  
Just wouldn't be polite.

The nights weren't all bad.  
The cuddled up together and shared secrets and ideas that they never let anyone else know.  
Daryl finally told someone the full horrors of his youth and Beth had held him as he shook.  
They were binding themselves together through words and gentle touches.  
But the tension between them was growing and it was becoming obvious to the others that soon something was going to give and nothing would ever be the same.

* * *

Beth had been waiting for Daryl in bed for an hour and he still hadn't show up.  
Whatever he was doing outside was taking away from their very limited alone time and that just didn't sit right with her.  
Throwing back the covers with a huff she shoved her feet in her slippers and silently padded out the door and down the hall.  
Everyone's lights were off so she walked down the stairs carefully, keeping quiet so as not to wake the rest of the house.  
Beth walked outside and saw a faint light coming from the barn.  
"Ruined my surprise now didn't ya?" a voice whispered in her ear.

Daryl knew she'd come looking for him and he waited on the porch for her.  
Fending off her limp wristed punch to his arm he grabbed her hand and tugged her towards the barn.  
"C'mon. Got somethin' to show you."

Beth was speechless.  
Daryl was normally level headed, Carl issue aside, but right now he seemed…excited.

As she entered the barn she held back a gasp.  
Little lights were threaded through the beams of the roof and as he steered her up the ladder to the hayloft her eyes misted over with tears.  
Her beautiful man had spent days setting this up for them.

Beth looked around at the neat space that was covered in sheets and blankets and turned to Daryl.  
He was biting the skin of his thumb and blushing and he just looked so awkward she couldn't stand it.  
How could he ever think she wouldn't love this?  
So Beth did what any other girl would do given the circumstances.  
She jumped him.

Daryl barely stayed on his feet as the little blonde clung to him.  
He could smell tears and happiness all at the same time.  
Before he could ask what was wrong his mouth was viciously covered by Beth's own.  
This was it.

Grabbing Beth's ass Daryl blindly carried her over to the blankets and lay her down.  
"So this is ok?" he panted.  
Beth let out a breathless giggle and ran her hands through his hair.  
"I don't think it could be any more ok. It's you. That's all I want y'know. Just you."  
Daryl laid an open mouth kiss on the pulse of her neck and breathed in her scent one more time.

Beth pushed Daryl up for a second and went to take off her shirt when he placed his hands over hers.  
"I think I'm supposed to do this."  
"You think?"

Daryl looked her in the eyes and said, "Never done anything like this before. Never wanted anyone like I want you."  
Beth silently raised her arms as he pulled her shirt off.  
Daryl groaned at the sight of Beth.  
He knew she hated wearing bras at night but he wasn't prepared for the sight of perfectly formed breasts and little raspberry pink nipples.  
Beth cocked her head.  
"You've already seen me naked before, you know?"

Daryl threaded his hands through her hair and brought her mouth to his.  
"Still beautiful. Every single fucking time."  
Nipping at her lower lip Daryl plunged his tongue inside and tasted her with a moan.

Daryl kissed her until he couldn't breathe. Would have continued if he hadn't started to feel dizzy.  
He moved slightly and gently bit down on her earlobe.  
"Don't leave me. Please."  
He didn't even know he was saying it until Beth brought her little hands up and held his face in her palms.  
"You're kind of stuck with me now." She said as she kissed his forehead.  
"Now can you get naked with me please?"

Daryl huffed out a laugh and stripped his sleeveless flannel off and tossed it somewhere behind him. He ran his hands down her arms and brought their fingers together.  
"You're stuck with me too."  
Beth lay down and brought Daryl with her.  
She always loved feeling his weight on her.  
It made her feel safe and cherished, like she was something delicate and precious.

Daryl chuckled against the skin of her neck.  
"Someone's eager."  
He mouthed his way down to her breasts and took a nipple between his teeth before she could snark back at him.  
As she curled her fingers in his hair Beth felt Daryl slide her shorts down her legs and she raised her hips to help.  
Yeah she was eager.

The smell of Beth's arousal was permeating the air and Daryl had to breathe through his mouth to keep himself from losing control.  
Beth gasped as he growled against her, feeling the vibrations thrum through her chest and an answering tingle in her groin.  
Daryl curled his fingers around the waistband of her cute little boyshorts and pulled them down.

Sitting back on his haunches Daryl simply gazed at his mate spread across the faded red of a comforter he had brought from home.  
She was all pink and gold and perfect in his eyes.  
Daryl bent down and laid a seemingly chaste kiss above the light thatch of hair between Beth's thighs.

"Been thinking about this since that morning in my bed. Could smell you on my sheets for days." He mumbled into the hipbone he had been nuzzling.

"Daryl, I swear to Go-"Beth cut herself off with a choked moan as Daryl delved between legs  
Grasping Beth's ass in his palms he brought her pussy closer to his face and slid his tongue inside her while stimulating her clit with his nose.  
Her legs were already shaking when he slid one of his hands down and slowly slipped two fingers inside.  
Daryl may have had the worst case of blue balls in history but he wasn't even going to think of himself before he took care of his mate.

Moving up to suckle gently at clit Daryl slid his fingers inside her, curling them to brush over her g-spot with every motion.  
Beth's breaths were coming in shallow gasps and her body was covered in a sheen of sweat as her hips jerked in time with Daryl's hand.  
She reached down and grabbed Daryl by the hair and dragged him back up to devour his mouth. Beth was getting louder, her moans echoing through the barn.  
Daryl growled against her neck speeding up the flick of his fingers and rubbing her nub with the palm of his hand

"Come Beth. Come now." He snarled against her skin.  
Beth could do nothing but follow his command, coming apart so hard her vision dimmed.  
As she recovered and got her breath back she was shocked at the tension she saw in Daryl.  
His muscles were locked and his jaw was tight.

Beth reached for him and brought his unyielding body to hers, cradling him with her softness.  
"It's ok. I need you too."  
The noise that came from Daryl's throat could almost be classified as a whine until it deepened into a growl as Beth unbuttoned his jeans.

"Don' want to hurt you" he said stiffly.  
"You're hurting so I'm hurting. C'mon Daryl. Please?"  
Daryl lost it then.  
Shoving his pants off he grabbed Beth's legs and wrapped them around his hips.  
All Daryl could think, smell, feel was Beth and he absolutely had to be inside her right now or he was going to die.  
He was going to burn up without her.

Grasping her hands with his own Daryl grit his teeth and slowly slid himself inside.  
"_Fuck"_ he hissed.  
He had never experienced anything like Beth Greene before.  
She was perfect.  
Stilling Daryl tried to give her time to adjust. He wasn't a small man and he knew Bet h had never done this before.

However Beth seemed to have different plans and shifted her hips to bring him closer.  
Maggie had told Beth her first time wasn't horrible but this was so beyond amazing there weren't words to describe it.  
She was so full and the slight burning sensation was delicious.

Nuzzling his face against Beth Daryl slowly pulled back and gently pushed back in.  
After a few strokes Beth was getting frustrated.  
She slid her hands down from his shoulders and grasped his ass to pull him into her harder.  
"You don't have to hold back Daryl. I want you."

Daryl stilled and seemed to shake. Then he slid one of his hands down to grasp her hip and tilted up and finally let loose.  
Beth couldn't keep up with his thrusts and just wrapped her limbs tighter around him and enjoyed the sensation of his thick cock pushing and pulling inside her.  
Daryl was constantly growling and snarling in her neck and Beth knew she'd have bruises on her hips and love bites on her neck to explain in the morning.  
She didn't care.

His mind was blank. All he knew was his mate and giving her pleasure. From her gasping moans he knew he was succeeding but he was so close and he wouldn't allow himself to come until Beth had.  
Shifting to throw one of Beth's legs over his shoulder Daryl groaned with the depth in which he was penetrating Beth. She was so wonderfully tight and wet, responsive to his every move.

Beth knew she was screaming but couldn't stop herself. He was so deep inside her and rubbing against something she herself had never been able to reach. Her nails were digging furrows in Daryl's back.  
Daryl snarled something into her chest and reached down to pinch her clit and Beth lost it. She came like she had never come before. It seemed like the world imploded behind her eyes and when she finally came down she realized Daryl's teeth had latched onto her shoulder.

When Beth came Daryl understood then he'd never want anything else in the world but her.  
He could do nothing but follow her and with one last howl he bit down on her shoulder hips jerking erratically.

Beth brought her arms up and cradled Daryl against her trying to catch her breath.  
She knew she should say something but she didn't have the words so she tenderly kissed him on the forehead and just lay there cherishing his heat and hardness.

Slowly pulling out Daryl collapsed next to Beth muscles still twitching.  
"Gonna kill me one day woman."  
Beth huffed out a laugh and curled up next to him.  
"You'd go happy then."

After a few minutes of simply reveling in each other's presence they both got up and put their clothes on and walked hand in hand back to the barn.  
Michonne was on the porch looking somewhat amused.

"Have fun?" she smirked.

Beth blushed and hid her face in Daryl's chest while Daryl pulled Beth up the stairs.  
"Night Michonne." He drawled.

Daryl slid into Beth's bed and looked at the bite he left on her shoulder.  
"Does it hurt?" he said as he licked the blood off.  
"No" she giggled," I kind of liked it".

Daryl groaned and tugged her closer.  
"Vixen."  
Beth threw a leg over Daryl's and snuggled underneath his chin.

"Do you think anyone heard us?" she asked quietly.  
Daryl chuckled.  
"Well we sure weren't quiet but the only one who could have heard us from there were Merle, Michonne, and Rick. Merle's passed out so I doubt he heard so it's just Rick you have to worry about."

Beth buried herself further into Daryl.  
"Oh God he looks at me like a little sister!"  
"Well he understands, he doesn't have to like it but he understands."

* * *

The next morning came too early and both wanted to have a late start.  
However life continued on and they weren't afforded such luxuries.  
Daryl sat up and groaned as his back popped in several places. Turning around he saw Beth had just thrown the covers over her head.  
Grinning lightly he grasped the end of the bedspread and yanked.  
Beth shrieked and gave Daryl a death glare.  
"C'mon princess. Time to get up and face the music."

Beth flounced out of bed in a huff and threw on some clothes as Daryl watched with thinly veiled pride in the beauty of his mate.  
Buttoning his shirt he waited for Beth at the door.  
"You ready."  
She nodded and laced their hands together.

Breakfast was….awkward.  
Rick couldn't look either of them in the face without flushing and Lori and Annette seemed to somehow know what had happened and were looking pleased.  
Merle took one look at the bite on Beth's neck and started to chuckle.  
"Took ole' Merle's advice did you baby brother?" he preened.

Daryl sighed and wished he could have a drink.  
Hershel hadn't said a world but was appraising both of them with calm eyes.  
"So," he said putting down his coffee.  
"When are you planning on getting married?"  
Yeah Daryl really needed a drink.


	10. Her Love is My Religion

**I'm so so so sorry this took so long to get out.  
I had to appeal my disability which takes forever and my roommate skipped out on my so I've been worried about bills and not really in the best of moods for writing.  
Silver lining we only have 9 more days until the premiere!  
Daryl all tied up should make all of us hot in our drawers. **

* * *

"Daddy!"

"Now don't worry Beth. Your father's just being an old fashioned fuddy duddy. You two take all the time you need."

Hershel's eyes narrowed and he looked like he was about to launch into one of his famous lectures but Annette simply walked over and whispered in his ear.

Now the humans in the room couldn't hear but the wolves heard perfectly.

"If you keep me from having grandpuppies because of some stupid tradition you'll be on the couch for the next year Hershel Greene."

Merle burst out laughing and when Beth looked around confused Rick met her eyes and mouthed "grandpuppies."

Daryl could feel the tips of his ears burn bright red and he refused to make eye contact with anyone.

Of course he'd thought of getting Beth pregnant.

There's nothing in the world he wanted more than a little girl with his eyes and Beth's golden curls or a little boy who'd give them both a run for their money.

He'd marry her first though.

His children should have his name.

Daryl started when he felt Beth's hand curl around his own and as he looked up at her he was struck again with how utterly beautiful she was.

His mark was on her neck and she smelled like sweat and sex and him.

Unable to restrain himself he leaned over and lay a gentle kiss over the small wound on her neck and smirked when he smelled the slight aroma of arousal that came forth.

"Daryl" she whispered.

If he thought his need for her would be abated after last night he was sorely mistaken.

All he could think of was finding a way to drag her somewhere secluded so he could take her all over again.

Hershel pointedly cleared his throat. and Beth and Daryl sprang apart red as apples.

"Today we need to fortify the fences so Rick I expect you, Merle, and Daryl to work on the Southern section of the farm."

Carl looked confused, "What about me"

"You're coming with me and Beth to pick up some things in town." Lori said.

Fearing a pre-pubescent sulk Beth smiled at Carl.

"We need a big strong man to help us carry our bags."

Carl blushed and Daryl's hand tightened around Beth.

Beth simply shook her head.

Her mate could be such a jealous boy sometimes.

"What about Michonne?" Rick asked.

"While she's finished healing she needs to rest up. She's been through quite a lot." Hershel said as he passed his plate over to Beth.

Standing up Beth casually ran her hands over Daryl's shoulders and delighted in the shiver that racked his body.

She could tell by the look in his eyes she would pay for teasing him.

She couldn't wait.

Gathering up dirty dishes Beth followed her mother into the kitchen.

She was taken aback when Annette turned towards her and wrapped her up in her arms.

"Mama?"

Annette stepped back and discreetly wiped her eyes.

"My baby's grown up and has found her other half. You'll be getting married soon and having babies of your own."

Beth flushed prettily and kissed her mother on the cheek.

"So you're ok with this? Me and Daryl" she asked anxiously..

Annette scoffed.

"Oh sweetheart. The way he looks at you is the way your father looks at me. You're the center of his world. I wouldn't be surprised if he proposed after all this mess with the Governor is over."

Smiling to herself Beth looked at her mother.

"If he asked I wouldn't say no."

As Beth walked away Daryl sighed, stood up and stretched.

He wanted nothing more than to take Beth back to bed and hide there for the rest of the day but there was work to do.

Clapping Merle on the back they waited at the door while Rick kissed Lori and his daughter goodbye for the day.

"Didn't think you'd be letting Little Red out of your sight so soon little brother."

Daryl smirked.

"If I had my way I'd be there with her but we got shit to do to keep them safe."

Rick nodded and stripped off his button down shirt, leaving him in his wife beater.

"I know when I first got together with Lori we couldn't get enough of each other. Then we had Carl and we still couldn't get enough.:"

Merle stopped and stared at Rick.

"Even when she was knocked up?"  
Rick smirked knowingly.

"Especially when she was pregnant. You don't know what it feels like to know that there's a piece of you inside someone you love. She smelled...like heaven. Like me."

Daryl was quiet but his mind was running a thousand miles an hour.

He could imagine how Beth would look swollen with his child.

He'd worship her belly before laying her on her back and feasting on her dripping pussy.

God! He needed her.

Shaking his lustful thoughts from his head he headed off with Rick and Merle to reinforce the fences.

Lori, Carl, Beth and Judith had all piled into Lori's SUV and were stocking up on groceries and sundries at the local Wal-Mart.

"You're the best baby ever. Yes you are!" Beth cooed as Judith played with her stuffed puppy.

Lori and Carl had gone to the electronics to pick up a new Game boy game for Carl so Beth was alone in the baby department looking at adorable onesies for Judi.

"She's a beautiful little girl."

Beth gasped and spun around.

The man was handsome in a politician sort of way but she knew who he was immediately.

His single eye was full of cruelty and cunning.

"Y...yes she is."

Trying to keep herself from visibly shaking Beth's eyes darted around trying to find a way out.

"I assure you I'm not here to hurt you." he smiled charmingly.

"My name is Phillip Blake and I'm here to save you."

Beth couldn't help looking shocked.

"Save me?

Brushing his hand lightly over Daryl's mark Phillip nodded.

"Save you from the beast who impregnated you. They're monsters. Abominations. You're stuck with him and you need help and I am here to give you that help."

Beth knew it was the wrong thing to do but she couldn't help the laugh that burst forth from her.

Immediately Phillip's entire countenance changed.

He grabbed her arm and brought her closer to him.

"Listen to me here you little whore. You're sleeping with a monster and that little mongrel over there will have more monsters and I'm here to stop that."

"Let me go!" Beth said as she struggled to free herself.

"Beth?!"

Wrenching herself free Beth grabbed Judi and ran to Lori and Carl.

Judith must have felt how upset Beth was because she began to wail.

Standing in front of his mother and his little sister Carl glared at Phillip.

"You come near my family again and I'll kill you."

The Governor threw his head back and laughed.

"You're a mongrel just like the other one. Don't threaten me boy."

Looking over the scared little group Phillip smirked and began to walk away.

"You're not what I want. I want your mates and now I know you'll lead me to them."

The men were taking a break from working on the fences when Rick's cell phone went off.

Wiping his forehead he reached into his back pocket.

"Hey Lor...what?!"

Daryl and Merle both gathered closer to Rick.

"What is it?"

"The Governor found them and threatened them. Called my children mongrels"

Daryl and Merle could see Rick shaking from rage.

Grabbing the phone from Rick Daryl told Lori to forget everything and to just get home.

Abandoning their tools the three wolves ran back to the farmhouse.

"What's the hurry?" Hershel asked.

"The Governor showed up. We need to get ready."

"I'm sorry for bringing him here."

Looking up as Michonne walked down the stairs Daryl could hardly care how the Governor got there he just wanted to get rid of him.

"We have to do what we have to do to get rid of him"

Merle looked at Rick appraisingly.

"Can you deal with that Officer Friendly?"

Merle and Daryl had never see such a dark look in the normally noble Rick's eyes.

"He threatened my wife and my children. I'll tear his throat out with my teeth if it comes to that."

Michonne smirked.

"You may just get the chance."

Waiting for Lori and Beth to get to the house was killing Daryl so when he heard the rumble of an SUV crash down the dirt road he was on his feet along with Rick running outside to greet their family.

Rick had Lori's door open before the car fully stopped.

He pulled her out and clutched her to his chest.

"He didn't hurt you right?" he said as he checked her over.

Lori was trying to stay strong but in the face of her husband she couldn't hold back.

Sobbing, Lori buried her face in Rick's neck.

Daryl waited for Beth to open the door to grab her.

When she winced and yelped he knew something was wrong.

Shoving her sleeve up he saw the hand shaped bruise on her upper arm.

Beth was shocked with how still Daryl got once he saw the bruise on her arm.

"I'm going to kill him slowly and painfully."

Laying a kiss on her forehead he gently told Beth to follow everyone else and go into the house.

He needed to run before he lost his mind.

Shedding his clothes in the barn Daryl welcomed the change.

The burning and ache that came from the shifting of his bones distracted him from the all consuming rage he felt.

Running through the woods Daryl's animal mind kept thinking of the threat to his mate.

Rick knew what he was talking about when he said he'd rip Phillip's throat out with his teeth.

Daryl's own jaws ached with the need to rend his flesh from his bones.

He didn't know how long he had run for but by the time he got back everyone was in bed.

Sighing he quietly crept up the stairs and into Beth's room.

Leaning against the doorjamb he stood there and simply gazed at his mate sleeping peacefully in her bed waiting for him.

He'd tear Phillip apart before he ever got near her again.

Sliding into bed behind Beth Daryl's eyes went wide with shock.

"Beth" he whispered "why are you completely naked?

As she stretched the blanket fell from her slim shoulders and revealed two perfectly round breasts.

"Mmm. I missed you and I wanted you here with me."

Daryl swallowed and tried to control himself.

"But...your father...Hershel."

Beth placed one finger over Daryl's mouth and shushed him.

"What daddy doesn't know won't hurt him. Besides we both need a little comfort right now, don't you think?"

Smirking a little Daryl rolled Beth beneath him.

"S'pose you got a point there, don't you little girl."

As he scraped his teeth over his bite mark he slid one hand down her chest and between her thighs.

Breathing out a laugh he slid two fingers inside her dripping pussy.

"How long have you been waiting for me Beth? Waiting for me to lay you out and make you come as many times as possible."

Beth stuffed her hand inside her mouth to stifle her moans.

"Yeah, you can't help yourself. So wet baby girl. Wet just for me." he said as he began to rub tight little certain around her engorged clit.

Licking from her collar bone to her chin he took her mouth with a fiery kiss, thrusting his tongue inside to taste her sweetness.

Grinding his cock into her stomach he knew he wasn't going to last long once he got inside of her.

She was tight hot perfection wrapped around him and he was already half gone just watching her muffle her own cries of ecstasy.

Her moans reached a fever point as he crooked his fingers and pressed into the rough patch inside her.

"That's it baby. Come all over me. Soak my hand."

He watched as her thighs trembled and her wetness gushed all over his fingers.

Daryl gently slid his fingers out of her quivering pussy and rubbed them over his mouth and nose.

"Love the way you taste and smell." he said licking his lips. "Now I'll smell you for hours."

As Beth lay panting, recovering from her first explosive orgasm she reached down and circled her fingers around Daryl's thick cock.

"Want you inside me. Now."

"Hold on. Let's try something new." he grinned down at her.

"Get on your knees baby girl."

As Beth clambered onto her knees she was breathless with anticipation.

She knew Daryl had been upset earlier and he was more closer to his animal than usual.

She wanted him to cover her, grab her hips and fuck her til she screamed.

Leaning on her elbows Beth shivered as Daryl ghosted his fingers down her spine.

Grabbing his cock Daryl teasingly thrust between the lips of her soaked pussy until Beth whined in disappointment.

Taking a hold of himself he slowly slid inside her tightness until his tip bumped into her cervix.

Beth gripped her pillow until her knuckles whitened.

Daryl set a leisurely pace and lost himself inside the sweetness of his mate.

As he sped up his thrusts he leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Always so perfect and all mine. Made for me to hold, and need, and love."

Gasping Beth shoved her hips back into Daryl's thrusts and began panting every time he his her cervix with a burst of pleasurable pain.

"M...more." she moaned out.

Daryl's head fell back on his shoulders and he grasped her by the hips and began to pound into her, searching for his own release.

Beth knew her moans were getting to loud so she stuffed her pillow into her mouth and bit down.

Sliding one of his hands down Daryl began to rub her little clit.

He knew by the tightening of his balls that he didn't have much time but his pride wouldn't let him come first.

"Beth" he panted out, "Gotta come. Gotta feel you come on my cock. "

Leaning over Beth he began to nuzzle her throat, listening to her muffled screams as she came.

Daryl began to thrust erratically and with one final vicious pump of his hips he came biting down on the nape of Beth's neck, tasting her sweat mixed with tiny droplets of her blood.

Gently sliding out of her twitching pussy Daryl fell back on his side gasping and trying to catch his breath.

Beth shifted over and slid a leg over his hips.

"Oh my God. I don't think I'll be walking tomorrow." she laughed.

As Daryl gathered Beth up to nestle against his chest he chuckled.

"If you can't walk I'll just carry you. It's my fault anyway."

Twining her little fingers in his sparse chest hair Beth looked pensive.

"What's on your mind sweetheart?"

Sniffling a bit she buried her head in his chest.

"I didn't do anything when he came up to Judi and me. I didn't even scream. He could have hurt her and I didn't do anything!"

Daryl rubbed his hand up and down her back and gently nuzzled her neck.

"Beth he surprised you and it won't happen again. He comes near here I will tear him apart. He won't get near you or Judith. I'll protect you both with my life."

Looking up through her lashes she smiled tremulously.

"I know you'll protect us. You're the strongest man I know."

She laughed when his ears turned red.


	11. No Words

Oh my dear beloved Bethylers we've been dealt a horrible blow.  
I'm so heartbroken and honestly pissed I don't know if I'll be able to keep watching.  
Beth's story arc was amazing and it feels like the writers took the easy way out  
Reedus himself cried for an hour when they filmed Coda so I doubt he's ok with this.  
There's a petition on Change to bring Beth back.  
Both Rick and Daryl have hallucinated before so maybe Beth will become Daryl's conscience.  
Honestly I'm afraid for Daryl.  
He's lost so much.  
From his father's abuse, his mother's death, losing Sophia, losing Merle, watching Hershel die, losing the prison, and now Beth I don't know how he's going to go on.  
I have this feeling he'll make sure the group gets to a safe place and then he'll just melt into the forest never to be seen again.  
Seriously though, Noah and Gabriel get to live and Beth doesn't?


	12. Hard Came the Rain

**I know this is amazing.  
I'm updating after six months of silence!  
Honestly it's been a weird kind of year so far.  
I moved to Indiana to be with my boyfriend. Got there a week and then was admitted to the hospital!  
Yay for kidney damage and high blood pressure!  
Season 5 of TWD killed me.  
Rick went inShane and the whole thing seemed kind of meh to me.  
This is dedicated to everyone who has read and reviewed.  
You bring a smile to my face on my bad days and give me the giggles on my good ones.  
Also dedicated to JaimeK45, the best fanfiction friend a girl could have.**

* * *

Daryl wasn't usually one to sleep naked but the lure of Beth's smooth, soft skin against his was too much to resist. As the pale light of dawn began to filter through the trees surrounding the house Daryl cracked a single eye open and groaned.

He knew that soon he would have to get up and get dressed but he wanted to stay like this for as long as possible. While he slept Daryl had covered Beth as much as he could, spooning her with one arm wrapped around her chest and the other possessively molded to her stomach, fingers barely skimming the tight blonde curls that hid her womanhood.

Tightening his arms just a little Daryl allowed himself to think of the future after the Governor was gone. He wanted to marry his mate and he wanted to pup her. His blood began to pound as he thought of what Rick had said the other day, how there was nothing better in the world than knowing a piece of you was inside the one you loved, creating a life.

Daryl could imagine Beth swelling with their child, could almost feel a little kick under his palm.

Before he realized it Daryl was rocking his hips against Beth's pert ass, his erection so hard it was almost painful.

Nuzzling into her neck he growled out her name, desperate for her to wake so he could take her.

Beth never slept as well as she did when she slept with Daryl. He was so tall and broad it felt like he was sheltering her with his body. She was surrounded by him; his body, his scent wrapping around her.

"Beth" she heard as she struggled to wake.

As she tried to discern whether or not she was dreaming Beth became aware of two things; 1. Daryl was awake and 2. That meant every single part of him.

Moaning softly she tried to turn around but Daryl stopped her.

"Need you so much baby girl. Can't stand not being inside you much longer." he almost whimpered.

Beth's breath began to come out in gasps, so turned on she could barely breathe.

"Please", she whispered. "Need you too."

Daryl could smell how aroused his mate was and it caused him to shiver with the knowledge of the power she had over him and vice versa. Sliding a hand to cradle one her perfect breasts he used his other to test her readiness.

"Christ girl, you're so fucking wet. You want me that much?"

Beth could barely think so she simply nodded and laced her hand with his, helping him knead her tits and pluck her already swollen nipples.

Daryl latched on to her already marked neck and began to gently suck. She would always wear his mark, always be saturated in his scent. Everyone would know she was his and he was hers and no one would ever take her from him.

The very thought of someone getting close to her added to his growing desperation. Grabbing one of Beth's silky legs he hitched it over his own and entered her all in one move.

Daryl struggled to stay quiet, wanting so badly to roar out that he was finally where he belonged.

Beth's head was swimming as Daryl unexpectedly slid inside her. This position caused him to hit all the spots she could never reach herself. She knew they both needed to be quiet but it was so hard when he was leisurely stroking in and out of her, building the fire inside them to a fever pitch.

Bringing his hand to her mouth to stifle her gasps Beth tried to move with Daryl but he held her still.

"Nah baby" his voice rumbled in her ear. "Let me do this. Let me take care a'you."

Moaning against his hand Beth went limp and let Daryl have his way. She never thought of herself as a submissive person but there was something about giving into Daryl she loved. He made her feel safe and cherished.

Daryl groaned against Beth's skin as she sagged against him. He was so close but he would never let himself come without Beth. She was his mate and he was made to care for her and he would always make sure she came first in everything.

Nipping at the shell of her ear he almost snarled, "You close sweetheart? Gonna come all over me? "

Daryl ran his palm down to cover her sopping pussy and with every thrust her clit slid against her hand, giving her that little extra push she needed to come hard for him.

As stars burst behind her eyelids Beth vaguely heard Daryl's choked off growl as he slammed into her two, three more times before once again biting into her neck to muffle himself as he came violently, his entire body shuddering.

When Daryl came back to himself he gently lapped at the bite wound he had left on his mate's neck. A part of him felt bad for breaking her skin and making her bleed but a greater part of him was pleased. She was covered in his sweat and filled with his come and he was covered in her juices with her taste in his mouth.

As her breathing calmed Beth began to giggle, softly at first and then growing in merriment.

Raising an eyebrow Daryl slid out of her and turned her around.

"What's so funny?"

Beth beamed and Daryl and kissed the tip of his nose.

"That was the best wake up call I've ever gotten."

Stretching languorously Beth seemed unaware of the look Daryl was giving her.

"This woman is going to kill me", he thought as he watched her petite body unfold in front of him with almost feline grace.

Daryl sighed as he heard a door open down the hallway. It was time to get up and face the world.

* * *

Breakfast was interesting to say the least. Beth and Daryl both were obviously well fucked but everyone was politely ignoring the blissed out looks in their eyes. Merle did allow himself to pointedly sniff at his brother and grin at him.

He figured it was his prerogative as an older brother to give his little bro some shit for the goofy look on his face.

Rick, however, looked horrible. His eyes were bloodshot and it was obvious he hadn't slept that night.

Upon seeing him Annette began to cluck at him, raising her hand to his forehead to check his temperature as if he were a child.

Michonne smiled wryly.

Rick may have been a fully grown wolf but he was still a man who sometimes needed a little motherly coddling.

"I'm fine Miss Annette. I just stayed up all night to watch over Lori and the kids." he said before taking a large gulp of his coffee.

As if they were summoned Lori came down with Judith in her arms and a sleepy Carl in tow.

The second Judith got near Beth she began to squirm and make grabby hands.

Lori and Rick both chuckled.

"Seems like there's some competition for little Miss Judith's affections." Hershel said smilingly.

His Bethy always had a way about her with children and it wasn't hard to imagine her with her own; a thought he was becoming increasingly ok with.

Beth giggled as she stood. "I can take her for a bit so you can eat some breakfast, Lori."

Lori nodded and gently transferred Judith over. She knew her husband wasn't going to sleep at all the night before so she tried to stay up with him.

Rick had gotten like this before once or twice. He'd get so worried about his family he'd become almost feral. Always prowling the perimeter, so focused on protecting what was his he'd forgo sleeping and eating.

"Dad?" Carl said. "You shouldn't worry so much. Between you and Mr. Merle and Daryl and Michonne no one stands a chance! You're like...like the Justice League or something!"

Everyone broke into a grin.

"I better be Wonder Woman" Michonne said flatly.

Carl practically vibrated with excitement.

"Of course you're Wonder Woman! Dad's Batman because they're both like detectives. Mr. Daryl is Green Arrow and that means Beth can be Black Canary."

Everyone was a little shocked at how much thought Carl had put into this but Rick simply smiled. His heart filled with love for a son who still saw him as an invincible superhero.

"I didn't hear my name pup. Ole' Merle not part of the Justice League?" Merle said with a mock look of sorrow.

Carl's face screwed up in thought.

"I think you're like Wolverine."

Beth muttered, "No crossovers" as Michonne placed her hand on her heart and fake gasped.

"Crossing DC/Marvel lines? You rebel!"

It was obvious Michonne and Carl were bonding over their mutual love of comics and both Rick and Lori liked the fact that Carl was bringing some measure of happiness to the usually stoic woman.

* * *

Breakfast continued on and despite the anxiety caused by the day before everyone was feeling confident that this Phillip would never get close enough to hurt any of them.

This peace was shattered when an unfamiliar vehicle drove up to the farmhouse.

Immediately everyone went for their weapons while Beth, Lori, and Annette grabbed Carl and Judith and retreated upstairs.

All the women were competent with firearms but they knew their mates and husbands wouldn't even consider letting them stay close to a potentially dangerous visitor.

Michonne and the men waited with baited breath as they watched the car halt in front of the house.

The engine cut off and everyone was completely surprised at the man who timidly exited.

He was visibly tense and sweating and had an air of desperation about him.

Raising his hands in the air he spoke with a wavering voice, "My name is Dr. Milton Mamet and I have some information that could help you."

Rick gave the man a long, considering look and lowered his Colt. This man was obviously not a threat for any of them. He honestly looked about to wet himself just being in their presence.

"What kind of information?"

Gingerly coming closer the doctor looked Rick right in the eye.

"It's about Phillip. About the Governor and what he's done and what he wants to do."

As the rest of the group relaxed their stances Hershel nodded at Milton.

"I suppose you'd best come in Dr. Mamet."

Not hearing any gunshots or yelling the women upstairs came down and looked quizzically at the unprepossessing man in front of them.

As he sat at the kitchen table the doctor began to nervously clean his glasses.

"I met Phillip four years ago. He's a very wealthy man and he said he needed a researcher for a rare blood condition in his family. At first I couldn't believe what I saw when he brought in the blood samples. The regenerative capabilities alone were breathtaking!"

Milton's eyes were unfocused as he considered his past research.

"I didn't know then what he was giving me. I didn't know..."

Sighing the man put his glasses back on.

"It wasn't blood from anyone from his family. He didn't even have a family anymore. When he finally told me what I was actually testing I didn't believe him but then he showed me where all the blood was coming from."

As Dr. Mamet tried to still his shaking hands Daryl's voice pierced the silence.

"It was shifter blood, wasn't it?" he growled out lowly.

"Yes, it was Homo Lupus. The Governor was obsessed with the idea of finding a way to slow or even stop completely the healing factor found in Lycan blood. "

Audibly gulping the doctor looked past Daryl and Rick to meet Michonne's gaze.

"I didn't know exactly what he was doing until I met your friend, Andrea."

A vicious snarl broke from the usually stoic woman's throat and it was only through Merle's quick intervention that Milton wasn't eviscerated right there in the kitchen.

Barely holding an enraged Michonne back Merle looked straight at Milton.

"What you say next, boy, will determine whether I let her go or not."

Mamet was a shade beyond white and Hershel and Beth both worried that he would pass out before he could finish sharing what he knew.

All of a sudden the scent of salt was in the air. Milton shook his head.

"You should let her go. I deserve it. All those people. I'm supposed to ask questions but I never asked the right ones. " his voice shuddered out.

"Andrea was...kind and beautiful and I couldn't let him continue what he was doing to her. He'd bleed them dry slowly, over time, and if I came up with something I thought could counteract the healing properties in their blood he'd use it just to see what would happen. I knew he wanted to keep her around to attract others and I didn't want her to suffer anymore. He left one weekend, I don't know where and I made sure she died peacefully. I told him her heart simply couldn't take it anymore, she went into cardiac arrest and there was nothing I could do."

Beth's heart ached for the man. She knew he would carry this pain, this guilt for the rest of his life.

Grabbing a handful of napkins she gently placed them in front of the silently sobbing man.

Daryl was torn. This man had experimented on wolves and even if he didn't know what he was doing at the time a piece of Daryl blamed him for all the death and all the fear the Governor had wrought. However there was another part of him, the human side, that understood and was even a little grateful that Mamet had stopped Andrea's suffering. He may not have met the woman but she was obviously deeply loved by Michonne.

Giving one last look of anguish Michonne ripped herself out of Merle's hold and walked out the door, shedding her clothes as she went. It was obvious she needed some time alone. Before she shifted Daryl called out to her, "Stay close Michonne. That bastard doesn't deserve to get another shot at you."

The dark skinned woman simply nodded once and shifted quickly. Andrea had been the first person she allowed herself to care for since Mike and her son died in the accident Mike himself had caused. She had been so numb for so long and the first time she let herself bond with someone they were taken from her.

Throwing her sleek head back Michonne howled out a challenge. The Governor would pay and she would be there to see him draw his last breath.

Hershel watched as Michonne ran into the woods behind the house and he sent a prayer up to God that she would find some measure of peace in her life. A thought struck him and he turned back to face Milton.

"Now Doctor, you said something about 'counteracting' a wolf's healing?"

Doctor Mamet cleared his throat and hastily wiped his eyes with the napkins Beth had laid on the table.

"Yes, the last trials showed a significant retardation of the regenerative capabilities in the Lycan blood."

Beth's hand went to her mouth in shock.

"So...so you mean they won't heal if they get injected with whatever you made?" she whispered.

Daryl, Rick, and Merle were visibly shocked. How could they fight something that would keep them from healing?

Rick's calm demeanor broke. All he could think of was his children, his friends not being able to mend. He thought of the possibility he would leave his family alone and without his protection.

The sheriff grabbed Milton's shirt with a snarl and lifted him until they were nose to nose.

"How. Does. It. Work?" he ground out, shaking the terrified man with each word.

Rick was very close to just snapping the doctor's neck but he felt a cool hand slide on top of his own and the scent of his mate gave him some measure of calm back.

"Let him go Rick." Lori said gently. "He can't help us unless you let him talk."

Rick sighed and released Doctor Mamet and stepped back from him.

Sweating profusely Milton gathered himself together to finish what he came her to do.

"It doesn't stop the healing altogether but it does slow it down considerably. Phillip likes to coat his knives and bullets and those of the men with him with the serum."

Standing up on shaky feet he turned to leave.

"He doesn't know I'm here right now so I'll do what I can from the inside but you have to stop him. He's irrational and growing more and more psychotic everyday. Even the men who follow him stay with him out of fear more than true belief now."

After delivering his message Milton got back into his car and drove away leaving only silence in his wake.

Rick gathered Lori to him and started upstairs to check on his children leaving the others in the kitchen to deal with the bombshell that had just been dropped on them.

Beth saw that Daryl's thoughts were far away and brought her hands to his face.

Brushing his hair out of his eyes Beth gently kissed his chin to bring him back to her.

Hershel and Merle both retreated to the other room to allow the two the appearance of privacy.

Even Annette left the room, understanding that Beth and Daryl needed to be alone with each other right now.

Daryl snapped back and met Beth's eyes.

His hold on her was almost too hard as he crushed her to his chest. His need to protect her almost overwhelming. If he had his way he'd lock her away from everything that could ever possibly harm her but he knew it would kill her spirit so he swallowed his fear down and threaded his fingers through her golden hair.

With Beth at his side he could face anything.


End file.
